Solar panels are so long-lasting that you may not have ever considered what to do with them at the end of their lives. But nothing lasts forever, and solar panels are made from recyclable materials – glass, aluminum, copper, and others - so can solar panels be recycled?
Yes! However, it's not as simple as putting them out with your empty cans and bottles for curbside recycling. Their physical size is formidable and there's a lot of labor involved in breaking them down into their constituent parts for recycling, so solar panel recycling is limited to specialized facilities.
This is where SolarRecycle.org comes in. They are an evolving database of recycling facilities that take solar panels, and in some cases inverters, batteries, and other system components, too. As of May 2022, this database includes facilities in 18 U.S. states.
Read the full article about recycling solar panels and solar equipment (including batteries) at the altE blog.
