Warning over growing solar panel waste

Australia has adopted rooftop solar power generation like no other country in the world with more solar panels installed per person than anywhere else. However, the success of the great clean energy story may have a flipside with millions of panels age, researchers warn the country must act quickly to prevent a looming waste problem and unlock the economic value of materials already in circulation. A new report led by RMIT University, in partnership with global think tank RAND, finds that without adequate infrastructure, more than one million tonnes of end-of-life solar panels will have accumulated in Australia by 2035, much of it going to non-circular pathways such as stockpiling, landfill or informal disposal, rather than being reused or recycled. Researchers found while Australia is well placed to become a global leader in solar circularity, the opportunity remains largely untapped because it's cheaper to send solar panels to landfill than to recover, refurbish or recycle them, and the systems needed to do so at scale are not yet in place. Rather than viewing retired solar panels as a waste burden, researchers say they are a valuable resource capable of supporting new industries and jobs. More than 40.6 gigawatts of solar capacity is already installed across more than four million systems in Australia. The country already generates about 40,000 tonnes of end-of-life panels a year, which could surge to more than 100,000 tonnes a year by the early 2030s. Lead researcher and RMIT Environmental Engineering Discipline Lead Associate Professor Ylias Sabri said Australia was entering a crucial phase in its renewable energy journey. “Australia has been a global leader in rooftop solar adoption, but we now need to become a leader in managing what happens when those systems reach the end of their life,” he said. “Too often, solar panels are treated as waste the moment they come off a roof, despite many still having years of productive life remaining. “Some processes described as recycling are really downcycling, crushing panels into construction materials and losing the silver, silicon and copper for good.” Rather than viewing retired solar panels as a waste burden, researchers say they are a valuable resource capable of supporting new industries and jobs. Many panels come off roofs long before they wear out. In a recent Queensland trial, panels were retired after an average of 12 years, against a design life of 20–25 years. Recovered materials, led by silver, could be worth more than $1 billion cumulatively to 2035. Established research also shows recycling supports 9.2 jobs per 10,000 tonnes of waste, compared with 2.8 for disposal. The report says Australia is uniquely positioned to lead globally in solar circularity, building on its world-leading rooftop solar market. Co-author and RMIT Professor Usha Iyer-Raniga said that without action, valuable resources could be permanently lost through downcycling or disposal. “The window for action is closing. What Australia does now will determine whether it becomes a global leader in solar circularity or misses a once-in-a-generation economic and environmental opportunity,” she said.

Warning over growing solar panel waste

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