Buzz
(Homeland) - Solar panel waste emerges as an intricate issue to tackle.
Solar panels, deemed as carbon emission reducers, face significant waste and recycling challenges due to their 25-year lifespan.
Dr. Rong Deng, a specialist in solar panel recycling at the University of New South Wales, reports over 1 terawatt of solar power globally with around 2.5 billion panels in circulation.
The UK government acknowledges the presence of tens of millions of solar panels, yet admits to a shortage of specialized infrastructure for their efficient disposal and recycling.
Energy experts express concerns over the potential global environmental disaster posed by these devices, urging immediate government intervention to avert such risks.
By 2021, the global solar power production capacity saw a 22% increase. In the UK, approximately 13,000 solar panels are installed monthly, primarily on residential rooftops. With this growth trajectory, the future quantity of solar panel waste is expected to be significant.
Experts are hopeful that the world's first plant dedicated to complete solar panel recycling, opening in France by the end of June, will provide a crucial solution. Owned by ROSI, this facility is capable of recovering and reusing 99% of a solar panel's parts, including glass, aluminum frames, silver, and copper, which are among the hardest to process.
Scientists continue to advance solar panel recycling technology, yet as of now, ROSI remains the sole company in the solar recycling domain to escalate its operations to an industrial scale.
Moreover, due to the high costs of recycling technology, many European importers or manufacturers handling solar panel processing prefer to shred them, as it is a much cheaper alternative.
