Thinking about and preserving the environment, economy, and society for future generations is essential, and solar panel recycling plays a role in this. Across the U.S., there are underground coal mine fires that have been burning for decades. Coal was great for energy production and heating, but it created massive headaches decades later. We cannot make the same mistake with solar energy.
Colorado’s Marshall Mesa’s coal mine fire started over 100 years ago. A fissure opened up in 2005 causing a sudden increase in ground temperatures of 375º F that set brush on fire. Pennsylvania’s Centralia fire has been burning since the early 1960s. The town’s population plummeted due to the fire. Per the U.S. Census Bureau, only five residents remain there.
While past energy sources like coal and nuclear energy have posed issues and damaged the environment, solar energy is rapidly increasing. It’s expected that solar power generation will grow from 163 billion kWh to 286 billion kWh by the end of 2025.
While this is great, the future must be considered. Solar panels have an average lifespan of 25 to 30 years. Microinverters often make it to 10 to 15 years and need replacing. What happens when a system no longer generates enough power or needs components replaced?
What Are the Steps to Solar Panel Recycling?
How are solar panels recycled? It starts by knowing how a solar panel is designed. It has a metal frame that has a back sheet to support the next layers. There are silicon solar cells soldered together using a metal connection. Those cells are covered with a glass sheet and connected to a junction box using wiring.
The first step to recycling a panel involves removing the junction box and frame. If new solar panels are going up, the mounts might stay affixed to the roof. If the entire system is coming down for roof work, everything must be dismantled and sorted.
Anything that is going to a recycling facility goes on a pallet while items that will be reused stay at the house. A truck takes the panels and other components to the electronics and solar panel recycling facility.
At that facility, the glass and silicon wafers are separated. This process is completed using one of three methods. They might be chemically separated, mechanically separated, or separated using heat (thermal). Metal goes to one area to be sorted and purified. Once melted down, the metal can be reused for new items.
Silicon is separated for additional processing. It must be broken down into wafers that are cleaned and polished. This is done using chemicals, mechanical polishers, and thermal treatments. They can then be used to refurbish panels that could be useful for smaller power generation needs or new products.
This is just the solar panels. Your microinverters, PV modules, wires, and inverters all have components that are not meant to go to the landfill. Choose an electronic waste recycling company that also specializes in solar panel recycling for a well-rounded approach to supporting a circular economy and a healthier world.
Explore the Many Environmental and Economic Benefits
Suppose a neighborhood has 100 homes and all install rooftop solar at the same time. Thirty years later, those homes all send their solar panels, wiring, and inverters to the landfill. Not only will that take up precious space, but it’s also going to eventually leach metals into the soil and groundwater. A liner could fail a century from now. Future generations now must deal with massive increases of things like cadmium and lead in their water supplies.
The metals and silicon that go into solar arrays must come from somewhere. The mining of these materials damages the earth. What happens when those stores run out?
Recycling reduces the strain on the environment and ensures that the raw materials aren’t unnecessarily depleted. You can reuse the metals and silicon. Recycled silicon makes new photovoltaic cells or refurbished damaged ones.
In some cases, solar panel refurbishment is a viable solution for situations where lower levels of power generation are needed. A refurbished solar panel could be used to run a water heater in a chicken run or heat an outdoor dog house used by a farmer’s guardian dogs. That’s another reason solar panel recycling is important.
The process of recycling takes time and skilled workers. The number of jobs available through solar panel recycling is tremendous.
First, you need architectural experts to design an efficient recycling plant. Once the blueprints are established, employees need to get the correct permits and ensure regulations are met. Construction teams need to build the facilities, and you have truckers bringing in the equipment and building materials.
Second, once the facility is ready to open, you need workers to run the machines and program the automated equipment that breaks down the solar panels. The components need to be recycled correctly and prepared for shipping to a facility where they’re melted or prepared for reuse.
One recently opened solar recycling facility expects to hire around 600 workers to start. When it’s fully operational, it’s expected that more than 1,250 workers will find jobs there. Facilities with more stages to their recycling processes need more workers, while plants with AI and automation need expert coders. The need for employees with different levels of skills is tremendous.
Where Is Solar Panel Recycling Headed?
Solar energy keeps growing. Currently, the SEIA reports that solar panels are installed on more than 5 million American homes. In just two years, 1.4 million Americans have used government incentives to install solar arrays at their homes.
Under President Biden’s administration, solar module manufacturing increased by 9.3 gigawatts in just the third quarter of 2024. Solar cell manufacturing resumed for the first time since 2019. Community and commercial solar markets increased by 12% and 44%, respectively. Estimates are that within five years, solar will provide power for more than 71 million homes.
Estimates put the number of panels on a residential solar system at around 20 panels. Thirty years from now, an average of 20 panels times 5 million American homes is 100 million panels that need recycling. That doesn’t even account for solar farms or rooftop systems for businesses.
As more homeowners and businesses embrace solar farms and rooftop solar, the need for recycling also increases. Many systems are already reaching their end-of-life. By capturing and reusing components to make new items, the need to mine new materials declines. Pollution from coal and fossil fuels, which are harmful to the environment, decreases. Solar and solar panel recycling also provide jobs to people in every community. It’s a win-win.
Ask ERI about solar panel recycling and PV management. Our specialists help ensure that solar arrays are recycled correctly.