Are solar panels recyclable?

• Most of the materials that solar panels are made of can be recycled, but some are difficult to extract and process.

• Recycling solar panel materials often isn’t a cost-effective process, even when materials can be resold.

• Solar panels that get dumped in landfills without proper disposal methods can create environmental hazards.

Do you know what happens to your solar panels after they’ve completed their working life? The answer has important ramifications for the environment. Many of the materials that are used to make solar panels are recyclable, but actually recycling them can be difficult and costly, leading to them ending up in landfills and reducing their environmental benefit.

In this article, we take a deep dive into solar panel recyclability, including which factors affect how recyclable different components and materials are. We also look at how developing technology and policy could make recycling solar equipment easier and cheaper in the near future.

How recyclable are solar panels?

While some of the components of solar panels can’t be recycled, a majority of them can. Reusing and recycling these materials can reduce the carbon footprint of solar panels, further improving their impact on the environment.

Whether or not a part of a solar panel is recyclable depends on a few factors that include:

• Materials: Glass, aluminum, copper, and other materials are easy to recycle and do not significantly degrade during the process.

• Type of panel: The crystalline silicon panels that account for most solar installations have lots of recyclable components. Thin-film panels contain more toxic elements and are more difficult and expensive to recycle.

• Infrastructure: The facilities and equipment needed to process and recycle solar panel components may not be available everywhere. 

In the table below, we provide an overview of what parts of a solar panel are and are not recyclable. 

Main materials found in solar panels

Modern solar panels are made of mostly recyclable materials. Glass accounts for around 75% of a complete solar panel assembly and can easily be extracted and reused. Metal components like aluminum frames and copper wiring have a high recycling efficiency—meaning they can be reformed without significant material loss—and high resale value. This makes them financially viable to recycle.

While the silicon wafers that make up photovoltaic (PV) cells are technically recyclable, they degrade in purity more than glass and metal. This makes them more difficult and expensive to reclaim.

Polymers like the EVA used to encapsulate solar assemblies are energy-intensive to remove. Many don’t have significant resale value. As a result, these materials are often dumped in landfills.

Methods for breaking down solar panel components

Before they can be recycled, solar panels must first be broken down and have their materials separated. There are several processes used to disassemble solar panels for reuse. These include:

• Robotic disassembly: Automated machinery can extract high-value materials like aluminum from solar panels quickly and easily.

• Manual disassembly: Some materials may need to be separated from the rest of the solar panel by hand due to their placement or composition.

• Thermal processing: High-heat furnaces are often used to burn off adhesives and encapsulants and enable disassembly.

• Chemical baths: Some components of solar panels can be soaked in chemical solutions to isolate valuable metals and silicon. 

How location influences solar panel recyclability

The recyclability of solar panels also depends on where they are located. Policy and infrastructure affect how easy—or even possible—it is to recycle their components.

The EU currently leads the world in regulatory policy around the disposal and recycling of solar panels and other e-waste. Through the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, the EU has established rigorous standards for how these products are dealt with. These regulations work to reduce landfill usage and prevent discarded solar panels from leaking toxic chemicals into the environment.

In the US, however, regulatory policy lags behind. At this time, there are no federal regulations around the proper disposal and recycling of solar panel components. That responsibility has been left up to state and local governments, and in some cases private companies.

Japan and South Korea have made progress towards reducing waste from solar panels. The countries have made significant investments in scalable, low-energy recycling methods. These methods are likely to make solar panel recycling easier and more accessible.

Financial and logistical barriers to recovery

Economics also plays a role in the recyclability of solar panels. While it’s true that many of the materials that solar panels are made of can be recycled and resold, that isn’t always financially viable. The cost of recovering and processing these materials often exceeds their resale value, or doesn’t leave room for meaningful revenue.

Some solar panel materials can be sorted and separated by machine, making it more feasible to recycle them. However, many materials are still labor-intensive to recover and process, adding to the expense. Recycling machinery also uses substantial amounts of energy and other resources, adding to both the cost of recycling and the carbon footprint of doing so.

And while the long lifespan of solar panels is good for the homeowners who buy them, it also comes with some downsides. Since much of the growth in solar adoption has happened relatively recently, few have reached the end of their life cycle. Without a mass accumulation of recyclable materials that could be resold, there is still little incentive for companies to invest in industrial recycling equipment.

Environmental risks when solar panels aren’t recycled

Solar panels that get dumped into landfills rather than being recycled or more carefully disposed of pose serious environmental hazards. Panels contain small but potentially harmful amounts of cadmium, arsenic, lead, and other toxic chemicals that can leach into soil and water.

Improper solar panel disposal also wastes non-renewable resources that could otherwise be reused. Metals like silver and indium are finite and easily recyclable. When solar panels get junked rather than recycled, these materials get taken out of the market for good.

Problems posed by discarded solar panels are a looming threat to the environment. By some estimates, the volume of solar waste around the globe could reach tens of millions of tons by 2050. (Just for comparison, 430 million tons of plastic waste are produced globally per year.)

New technologies improving panel recyclability

While solar panel waste is a reasonable concern, developing technology shows promise in making panels more recyclable. Manufacturers have started to design their solar panels to be easier to disassemble, simplifying recovery and making it more efficient.

Another critical development is the use of laser delamination to remove the layers of solar panels. The current method of heat treatment to remove polymers and other encapsulants generates significant amounts of greenhouse gas. Laser delamination accomplishes the same job without harmful emissions. 

There is also an increasing emphasis on developing and refining closed-loop recycling processes. These processes work to reclaim materials from decommissioned panels to use them to make new solar panels. Closed-loop recycling could enable a meaningful reduction in waste when used at scale.

Bottom line: Is solar panel recycling effective?

Most solar panel materials are technically recyclable, but financial, technological, and infrastructure barriers have limited how much actually gets recycled. In many cases, it just isn’t cost-effective to recycle many of the materials in solar panels. Without regulations that require businesses and people to recycle old solar panels, there is little to incentivize spending the time and resources to do so.

However, design improvements and technological development should make recycling solar panels easier and more financially rewarding. Countries around the world have taken steps towards establishing policies and standards that can help keep solar panels out of landfills and further reduce their carbon footprint. 

FAQ about solar panel recycling

Below are a few frequently asked questions about solar panel recyclability:

Can solar panels be completely recycled?

Most of the materials that solar panels are made of can be recycled. However, some of those materials are difficult or aren’t cost-effective to recover and recycle.

Is there money in recycling solar panels?

Solar panels contain several materials that can be recycled and resold, such as glass and aluminum. However, there is a cost to reclaiming and processing these materials that can significantly reduce the profits from reselling them.

How much are scrap solar panels worth?

While some of the materials in solar panels have value, the cost of recycling them often exceeds the potential revenue from selling them. As a result, scrap solar panels do not offer much value to recyclers.