As solar power projects mature, panels increasingly lose efficiency. What do operators do with solar panels once they have reached the end of their lifespan? Will Norman finds out.
PV Tech Premium talks to Solarcycle’s co-founders about their company’s unique ability to extract every single constituent material out of an end-of-life PV module, how solar panels are not lasting as long as people expected, the race to prevent solar waste being illegally dumped across the globe, and how modules can have a useful second life.
EDPR Sunseap has signed a memorandum of understanding with material innovator Archwey to explore the use of recycled plastics in floating solar projects.
Solar testing firm PI Berlin has joined Europe’s new supply chain assurance scheme to develop confidence in how and where PV products are manufactured, a Solar Power Europe (SPE) policy advisor has told PV Tech Premium.
Longer PV module lifetimes could lower new material demand by reducing the need for additional solar deployment in the US, according to new research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Solar modules used in PV plants from independent power producer Silicon Ranch will be recycled by Solarcycle as part of a new partnership between the US companies.
Grant funding has been awarded to a project in Australia that will explore the potential revenue streams and consumer interest in used solar PV panels.
The solar industry’s manufacturing footprint, and indeed the projects themselves, are becoming ever larger, with more panels and other associated equipment being packaged and shipped globally. Now, as Emilie Oxel O’Leary, CEO at Green Clean Solar explains, the industry is getting serious on its end of life obligations and establishing a true circular economy
Further study is needed to reduce the recycling costs and environmental impact of used solar panels, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
