As the world turns away from planet-warming fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources, a new pollution problem rears its head: What to do with old or worn-out solar panels?
Thousands of solar panels are being installed every day across the United States, particularly in the country’s sunny West and South, as states like California scramble for greener energy production.
But with an expected lifespan of about 30 years, the first wave of solar installations is now reaching the end of its useful life, sparking a rush to recycle things that might otherwise end up in landfill.
“What’s going to happen is a tsunami of solar panels going back into the supply chain,” said Adam Saghei, CEO of Arizona-based We Recycle Solar.
“One of the challenges for any industry is that there hasn’t been as much planning for a circular economy.
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“(Solar energy) is a sustainable form of energy; there needs to be a plan to retire these assets.”
Saghei’s design includes, among other things, the reuse of panels.
Anywhere up to five percent of panels either have a minor manufacturing defect or are damaged during shipping or installation.
Those panels that are still working can be refurbished and diverted to other markets, often overseas, Saghei says.
But for panels that no longer work — either because they’re broken, damaged beyond use during installation, or broken by hail — there’s treasure to be found.
“We’re doing what’s called urban mining,” says Saghei, referring to a process that took his engineers three years to perfect.
This mining recovers silver, copper, aluminum, glass and silicon — all commodities that have value on the open market.
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While the uses for metals may be obvious, what to do with silicone and glass is less so, but interesting nonetheless.
“You can use it for sand traps on golf courses, you can improve it for sandblasting mix, you can also use it for the rocks or glass mix you get for outdoor fireplaces,” says Saghei.
With the capacity to process up to 7,500 panels each day at the factory in Yuma, surprisingly little is wasted.
“Depending on the make and model of the panels … we’re able to get a recovery rate of up to 99 percent.”
Logistics
For Meng Tao, who specializes in sustainable energy infrastructure at Arizona State University, developing an efficient life cycle for solar panels is a pressing issue.
With the United States among countries committed to weaning off fossil fuels following a landmark COP28 climate deal, solar panel installation looks set to peak two decades from now.
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“Once it matures, then the annual installation and decommissioning will be about the same,” he told AFP.
“But for the next 20 years … at least the next 10 years … we’re just going to have more installations than retirements.”
The problem with recycling, he says, is not only that the value of recovered panel materials can be relatively low, but also the logistics.
With panels distributed across thousands of roofs, sometimes remote roofs, it can cost a lot of money just to take them to a recycling center.
And unlike some jurisdictions, the United States passes the cost of removal and recycling onto the end user — making it more attractive for households to dispose of their old units at the local landfill.
“There needs to be some policy support” to bridge the gap between what consumers will pay and the total life-cycle cost of the panels, Tao says.
developing market
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For Saghei, as for any entrepreneur, profitability is important.
“You don’t see too many people getting into the business because recycling has a cost. It’s not free. It’s labor intensive. It’s energy intensive,” he says.
But he sees a way forward.
Recovering materials from old solar panels that can be put back into new solar panels is — he’s convinced — a winning proposition.
“These are markets that are growing,” he says.
“It is through this process that we are able, once the industry scales to even greater numbers, to bring these raw products back into the supply chain.
“What’s exciting is that we’re on the front lines.”
Source: AFP