In 2023 fossil fuels were responsible for 76% of total global energy production. Solar, meanwhile, contributed less than 3% to that total.
Even when you combine all renewable energy sources together, these still only make up just under 12% of global energy.
The solar industry is growing but it still has a long way to go before it becomes the new global source of energy.
Furthermore, producing solar panels requires the use of a number of finite resources. Just like any energy source, solar requires raw materials and these will not last forever.
On top of all this, solar waste is starting to cast its own looming shadow, with an expected 78 million tons of waste predicted by 2050.
All this begs the question, can solar panels be recycled and if so how can solar recycling be implemented at scale?
It’s time to find out.
Solar panels are complex pieces of kit, with multiple parts combined and fused together. They are designed to be tough, durable and capable of lasting for years in hot challenging conditions.
Because of this, solar panels are notoriously difficult to break apart and separate into their component pieces. This makes them much more difficult to recycle than other materials.
Despite all this, solar panels are recyclable, the process just involves a number of stages designed to separate the glass, plastic and assorted metals that make up the panels.
As indicated above, the process for recycling solar panels involves separating the panels into their component parts.
Currently, this industry is still very new with different companies developing their own unique processes for separation and refinement. However, all recycling plants broadly use the same steps making use of an automated system of machines that break the panels down.
Solar panels are built in a sandwich structure.
A series of silicon crystal cells in the middle of the panel are covered by glass and plastic on the front and plastic backing on the rear, all held together by an aluminium frame.
Most panels also use silver to conduct electricity generated by the silicon crystals and copper wire to move the current.
If you're interested in finding out more about how solar panels are made we've covered the whole process.
To separate out each of these parts the construction process needs to be reverse-engineered.
First machines remove the junction box from the back of the panel. Next, the aluminium frame is automatically removed from the panel. Following this the glass needs to be separated.
There are different techniques for doing this; some involve smashing the glass, others involve heating and melting the glue that holds it. Each recycling plant will be different.
Once the glass has been separated it is then turned into a fine powder that can be sold.
The solar sheet is then crushed and shredded, removing any remaining traces of glass. The shredded material is then further broken down until you’re left with a powder containing a combination of valuable metals, including copper, aluminium, tin, silicon and silver. This can then be sold and reused.
Depending on whether you’re recycling silicon or film-based solar panels, the process for recycling will vary slightly. For example, silicon panels are usually separated with acid whereas film panels use a rotating screw.
The solar recycling market is still relatively new.
The first wave of solar panels were installed about 25 years ago and are only just starting to reach their end of life. Until now, the disposal of panels hasn’t been a major concern and it’s only now that it is becoming more of an issue.
Because of this, there has been a distinctive lag between the production of solar and the recycling process and it’s only just beginning to catch up.
The positive news is that we’re starting to see a real influx of new technology and innovation in solar recycling.
For example, a research team in Australia have come up with a method of separating panel materials by microwaving them. This technique could help to make recycling easier and reduce the costs.
Developments like this are going to continue to appear as the demand for solar recycling increases.
In the UK, the disposal of solar panels is regulated under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which aims to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment that ends up in landfill.
Solar panels cannot simply be disposed of in landfill due to the potential environmental hazards and the valuable materials they contain. This means that all British solar panels must be professionally removed and disposed of.
In effect, solar recycling is legally required in the UK.
Both silicon and film-based solar panels are recycled in the UK with waste disposal companies providing recycling services across the country.
Some of the major providers are situated in London, Birmingham, Hereford, Sheffield and Leads, however, all of these offer national collection services.
Depending on the nature of your panels, you can either remove the panels yourself and take them to a drop-off point or the disposal services will come to you and remove the panels for you.
Manufacturers and importers are legally responsible for end-of-life disposal and many solar panel installers also provide a take-back service.
Here is a list of some of the major recycling services in the UK:
The length a solar panel lasts is in a large part down to your own efficiency expectations.
In most cases, a solar panel won’t critically fail like an old phone or laptop, but typically panels gradually reduce in efficiency over time. This means that their expected lifespan is dependent on how low an efficiency you are prepared to tolerate.
That being said, standard metrics tend to quote a life expectancy of between 25 and 30 years, although this will vary depending on when you purchased your panels.
Modern panels tend to have a longer life than first-generation panels as the technology has moved on significantly since the early days.
For example, older panels are known to degrade by about 1% per year. Newer panels on the other hand have a degradation rate as low as 0.6% per year, which means that in 25 years they will still be operating at 82.5% of their original capacity.
Furthermore, there are some anecdotal reports that show that efficiency declines in a falling curve.
In the first few years, a panel might decline at a rate of 1.5% to 1.8%, but in the next 15 years, this will fall to 0.6% and then as little as 0.4% after 25 years. If you follow this curve over 100 years, a solar panel could still be operating at 25%, a century after it was installed.
For the consumer, there is no cost to get your solar panels recycled, however, if you are a manufacturer or installer then you are responsible for the safe disposal of retired panels.
The manufacturer is primarily responsible and must cover the cost of removing and recycling the PV panels.
For installers replacing old panels, they should offer a take-back scheme. They are responsible for removing and transporting the panels to a safe solar disposal facility.
However, this only applies if the installer is providing a replacement. If no replacement is being provided the manufacturer must handle disposal and the installer isn’t responsible.
Furthermore, even when an installer offers a take-back scheme, the manufacturer is still ultimately accountable. An installer can therefore claim back the cost associated with the removal and disposal of the panels from the manufacturer, usually done through a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS).
Aside from the direct cost of removing and transporting the panels to a recycling plant, there is also a fundamental cost that comes from the process of recycling.
This is one of the major challenges for the solar industry.
In 2024 the cost of sending solar PV to landfill is lower than the cost of recycling, which means there is no economic incentive for recycling.
Recycling a solar panel costs anywhere between $15 to $45 per module. Sending a panel to landfill, meanwhile, only costs between $1.38 and $5.00.
Furthermore, the materials produced from recycled panels are not always of high quality. As mentioned earlier in this article, it is very difficult to separate the different metals and other compounds from the original panel.
This means that often what is left is a mixture of glass, silicon, and other metals called glass cullet. This can be sold for industrial use but is only worth around $3 per panel.
There is some hope however, with a company in Paris, called ROSI, having designed a process in which they can recover some of the most valuable materials found in solar panels.
They are able to fully separate out silicon, silver, and copper through a low-impact and low-cost process. In fact, the quality of their materials is of such a high standard that the silicon produced is much purer than metallurgical grade silicon.
When you consider that the value of the materials contained within solar panels is predicted to be worth $2 billion by 2050, it shows that there certainly is a future for recycling solar materials.
Along with the economic costs, there is also an environmental price to pay.
Given that the whole push for solar stems from a desire to move away from fossil fuels and create more sustainable forms of energy, it’s important to quantify the environmental impact of producing and recycling PV.
Producing energy from solar power releases far fewer greenhouse gasses than fossil fuels. Solar energy generates 12 times less CO2 than natural gas and 20 times less than coal.
But what about the recycling process?
Well, according to the recycling plant at SolarCycle, every recycled solar panel saves approximately 97 pounds (44kg) of CO2 and 1.5 tonnes if the panel is reused.
Furthermore, when you take a look at the different raw materials found in a solar panel, you will see how much more efficient it is to reuse these materials rather than mine them anew.
Recycling aluminium, for example, uses 95% less energy than producing new aluminium.
In fact, when you look at solar’s impact compared to the alternatives, on pretty much every front, it is the more sustainable and more environmentally friendly option in pretty much every way.
So far all the talk has been about recycling old panels, however, there is another way to give old solar panels another life and that’s through reuse and repurposing.
While second-hand PV is not as efficient as anew panel, there is still a market for this cheaper alternative.
With the technology moving on so quickly, it’s not uncommon for businesses to replace their panels before they reach their end of life. This is because, due to the increases in efficiency offered by the latest tech, it’s often more cost-effective to replace working panels than persist at a lower efficiency.
However, if these older panels have been replaced early in their life, they will still be operating at a relatively high efficiency level. Given the reduced price and their still relatively long operational life, these panels can be an attractive option.
Even for less efficient panels, there is still a market for reusing old PV even if it’s for smaller less energy-intensive tasks.
When you consider that the cost of refurbished panels is around $0.05-$0.15 per watt compared to producing new panels at $0.50 per watt, this market is only going to continue to grow and become a key player in a more circular economy.
So where does all this leave us?
Let's pair things back to the original question and provide an answer based on everything we’ve just covered.
Solar panels can be recycled, and it is a legal mandate to do so in the UK. Despite this, the process for recycling solar is still not incredibly efficient or cost-effective.
Although there have been and continue to be advances in solar recycling technology, it is going to take time for these developments to roll out at scale.
The reality is that in 2024 90% of solar panels still end up in landfill, with just 10% getting recycled.
As the solar industry grows, and demand for this renewable tech expands globally the need for more efficient, more cost-effective recycling processes is going to become essential.
The good news is that there is a lot of value in the raw materials contained in solar panels, which means once the process for extracting them has been refined, the industry will have the incentive to resolve many of the challenges it faces.
So if you’re thinking about buying some panels and are worried about their end-of-life, then know that the industry is moving in the right direction and by the time you’re ready to throw your panels out, the infrastructure will likely be there for effective recycling.
If you're interested in discovering more about what the future of solar will look like, check out our article covering some of the trends and predictions for solar technology over the next 30 years and beyond.
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