Alongside solar's rapid buildout, the industry is confronting a different issue: how to handle the growing number of panels that will eventually be removed from rooftops and large solar sites.
Instead of being treated only as waste, retired panels could provide domestic supplies of silicon, silver, glass, copper, and aluminum, PV Magazine reported.
Here's what to know
The International Energy Agency projects that in 2030, about 50,000 tons of crystalline-silicon modules — nearly 5 million panels, or roughly 1 gigawatt — will reach end of life in the United States.
That flow is expected to accelerate, with annual U.S. retirements rising to 10.8 gigawatts by 2050. In 2026, around 800 megawatts are already aging out.
In the U.S., recycling typically costs around $15 to $45 per panel, while sending one to a landfill costs about $1 to $5. With that price difference, disposal can be the cheaper choice even when the panels still contain reusable materials.
André Pujadas, CEO of Florida-based recycler and materials recovery firm OnePlanet, put it this way, according to PV Magazine: "We're right on the cusp of a wave of panels coming onto the recycling market, but with no real industrial-scale solution that supports the owners."
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More background
Older solar modules still contain inputs that could be reused in future U.S. manufacturing, which could bolster domestic supply chains for critical materials rather than leaning as heavily on newly mined sources.
In the European Union, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment rules require PV companies selling into member states to participate in panel take-back and recycling, with a target of 80%.
The U.S. does not have a similar federal requirement, and state laws remain inconsistent.
OnePlanet is updating its demonstration site in Green Cove Springs, Florida, to install a PRISM line that uses mechanical separation instead of chemical or heat-based methods, according to PV Magazine.
Pujadas said OnePlanet sees Florida as appealing partly because transporting retired panels can cost more than recycling them, and the state also has a large installed solar base plus growing manufacturing activity.
What's being done?
OnePlanet aims to generate saleable material streams of silicon, solar glass, copper, aluminum, and silver.
Pujadas said the first step is removing the glass, which takes off about 75% of the panel's load before the remaining material is processed.
The company received a $14.5 million tax credit through the U.S. Qualifying Advanced Energy Project (48C) program to help build its first industrial-scale facility. Initial PRISM output is planned for 2027.
Longer term, OnePlanet plans to add refining steps so that the recovered materials can be turned into metallurgical-grade silicon and silver by 2030.
If that happens, recycling could bring end-of-life panel fees closer to landfill costs — or even below them — while turning discarded solar equipment into a more useful feedstock for the next generation of capable, durable clean energy manufacturing.
Pujadas said the implications could reach beyond waste handling, stating: "Using recycled silicon from panels you have an 80% reduction in energy use and a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling [ushers in] a new era of what I would call green silicon making."
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