The PHOTORAMA consortium consists of several organisations, each bringing its specific expertise to the project. We have asked Wolfram from LuxChemtech and Olivier from Mondragon Assembly to tell us more about their roles in PHOTORAMA.
Hello Wolfram and Olivier, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today.
Can you shortly introduce your organisation, your team and explain its role in the consortium?
Olivier: Mondragon Assembly France (in Orange) was established in 1992. It is a subsidiary of the Mondragon Assembly Group, which specialises in developing automation solutions for industrial product assembly processes. The company currently has around 35 employees working in design offices, administrative services, and the workshop, with a turnover of €7.3 million. The R&D team responsible for European projects such as PHOTORAMA is composed of four people—two mechanical engineers and two automation engineers. This team designed, built, and commissioned the Deframing, Jbox removal, waterjet and diamond wire machines.
Wolfram: On December 6, 2019, Dr. Ingo Röver and I decided to combine our more than 20 years of experience, gained at companies such as the former Solarworld, into a new company that would primarily focus on the recycling of rare and valuable materials. This naturally includes silicon and photovoltaic waste. At the time, it seemed like a good business, and we started it with 17 employees, whom we still have today. A mix of coincidence and networking led to our collaboration on the PHOTORAMA project. It was a great opportunity to further develop some of our ideas, together with a plant engineer.
Early April, the pilot line was revealed to the public. What an achievement! Can you tell us more about the months and weeks leading up to this event? Did you encounter difficulties, and how did you resolve them?
Loading PV into the machine.
Wolfram: It was a huge challenge, almost too big for our small company. What started as a collaboration within a work package later became a very demanding role, especially when we later took on our own work package and hosted the demonstration plant. Month after month, we had to take on more responsibilities. Ultimately, it was a major undertaking – one that we mastered together. All difficulties were overcome. Of course, there is still room for improvement, but the fact that PV modules could finally be processed in an industrial environment is a great shared success – we were finally able to show interested parties what we had been talking about for months.
According to you, what are the main achievements showcased by the pilot line? What is the added value of the processes developed by PHOTORAMA compared to the state of the art?
Olivier: The PHOTORAMA line prototype has demonstrated the feasibility of industrialising photovoltaic panel recycling with high material recovery efficiency. The process enables the recovery of nearly all raw materials contained within the panels. In collaboration with CEA, LuxChemtech, and other project partners, we have developed versatile machinery capable of processing a wide variety of photovoltaic panels. These machines are designed with a strong emphasis on resource efficiency, featuring low electricity consumption and a closed-loop water system. Approximately 95% of the water used is recovered through filtration and reintegrated into the process, minimising environmental impact.
Now that the pilot line has been set up, what are the next steps for these technologies?
Wolfram: We’d like to continue working on the system, improve it, and plan its market launch with potential users. We hope the potential of these technologies will be recognised and ultimately realised in practice.
Thank you both for this insight into your work!
Pictures in this article are credited to ©PHOTORAMA-EU project ©European Union, 2025