Solar power is one of the fastest-growing clean energy sources. With the rise and popularity of the renewable energy market and solar power, the question often arises, “What happens to the solar panels after their life span is over?” A solar panel’s life span is typically 25-30 years, so after that, will we be looking at a mountain of waste? Solar panel recycling is still at an early stage, but as the renewable energy market continues to expand, recycling processes will continue to develop and will play and increasingly important role in the future of solar.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), waste from end-of-life solar panels presents opportunities to recover valuable materials and create jobs through recycling. By 2030, the cumulative value of recoverable raw materials from end-of-life panels globally will be about $450 million, which is equivalent to the cost of raw materials currently needed to produce about 60 million new panels. Diverting solar panels from landfills to recycling saves space in landfills in addition to capturing the value of the raw materials.
The main components of a solar panel are glass, aluminum, copper wire, and plastic, which can be easily recycled. These recycling industries are already well-established. Other materials, such as silver, copper, lead and cadmium may also be present in a solar panel but are typically found in small amounts. They can also be recycled, but it is a bit more difficult due to their smaller quantities and the fact that they are all used together in one product. The industry on recycling these items is new and still growing, but researchers are working to find economical methods to re-use, or mechanically or chemically recycle the solar PV products.
In Europe, solar waste management is much more established. Policies are in place requiring the panel manufacturers to handle the recycling once the panels have reached the end of their lifespan. The U.S. does not have such federal regulations yet, although some states such as California are working on regulation laws. In the absence of manufacturer requirements to recycle, there are private companies working on their practices and technologies. The Solar Recycling Company specializes in buying and recycling solar panels and equipment. Their goal is to eliminate waste and expense with an innovative approach to refurbish functional solar panels and responsibly recycle the unusable ones. They strive to reduce waste of the world’s IT and solar materials by recycling and reuse, and energy generating disposal. Other companies such as EnergyBin, We Recycle Solar, and Veolia offer solutions in solar panel recycling.
Even though solar panel recycling is in it’s infancy in the U.S., solar energy is still an environmentally friendly financial investment. Contact us at Endries Solar to receive a free quote!
Additional resources:
Solar Panel Recycling | US EPA
Solar Panel Recycling: How Does It Work? | EnergySage
Sell Used Solar Panels – We Buy Used and Old Solar Panels (solarrecycling.com)