**4. Conclusions**

In this study, we calculated the private and externality cost of PV recycling in their EoL. We investigated the FRELP method that is used in recovering materials from c-Si PV waste. Our results indicate that the cost of EoL management of c-Si PV module are USD 6.72/m<sup>2</sup> and of the cost components of PV EoL management, the transportation associated cost was found to be the highest (USD 3.36/m2) while the cost of the recycling process (the cost of consumed materials, electricity or the investment for the recycling facilities) was found to be the most insignificant (USD 0.25/m2). We calculated that the external cost of PV EoL management is very similar to the private cost (about USD 5.2 m2). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the external cost of PV recycling. We found that the majority of the external costs of PV EoL management are associated with the processing of PV waste, USD 4.08/m<sup>2</sup> which suggests that more environmentally friendly methods (e.g., recycling methods that involve fewer toxic chemicals, acids, etc.) should be preferred in the recycling process of PV waste. Finally, we showed that the net economic benefit of FRELP method is almost USD 7 per m<sup>2</sup> module when external costs of recycling are not considered and USD 1.19 per m<sup>2</sup> when the external costs of recycling are considered. However, because this net benefit is so small, appropriate policies may need to be enacted to further motivate PV manufacturers to recycle their EoL panels.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3650/s1.

**Author Contributions:** E.M. is primarily responsible for data generation and writing the first draft of the manuscript. I.C. worked on interpretation of data and revisions to address Reviewers' comments. D.A. provided supervision and guidance. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the University of Toledo's Office of Undergraduate Research and SAIF grant provided by Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
