Solar waste creates new opportunity for recycling industry

Saying “opportunity” is looking at it positively. The solar power industry is quickly moving from sidebar to mainstream as more businesses and consumers adopt it as a way to supply part or all of their energy needs. Not all is ideal in solar power land though, because many of the materials used to build solar panels are toxic when broken down during the recycling process in developing countries.

That sort of challenge isn’t new -- the electronics industry has earned criticism for a while now because consumer appliances, personal computers and smartphones are not easy to recycle without releasing toxins into the atmosphere and water supply.

The solar industry hasn’t had to deal with this challenge en masse yet because solar panels on average have a lifespan of 20 years or more. Since solar has just recently begun its transition to mainstream, the amount of waste is still a trickle in comparison.

In 2009, Greentech Media estimated that U.S. solar demand will continue to increase about 50 percent annually through 2012. The report said the U.S. capacity installed during 2008 was about 320 megawatts, and it predicted that about 2,000 megawatts would be installed during 2012. Such growth would put U.S. capacity ahead of solar leader Spain and potentially ahead of Germany, as well. Via GreenTechSolar.

Recycling companies in the U.S. and other countries are interested in prepping for larger volumes of solar panels, but right now there just isn’t enough demand. Ideally as solar continues to enjoy more demand, companies will continue to improve on their lifespan as well. Though the recycling companies may disagree, too few solar panels to recycle is a good problem to have!

Inevitably though, solar panels will eventually break, and when they do it will be obvious which companies spent time thinking about how their products could be re-purposed at end of life. Considering how “cool” it is to be considered green and renewable right now, there’s certainly an impetus to maintain that perception with consumers. Hopefully that’s motivation enough to help the solar industry avoid the recycling nightmare electronic devices are in now.