‘Solar panels lead to waste mountain due to poor recyclability’

According to experts, the solar energy industry pays too little attention to the recycling of solar panels, which threatens a waste stream in five to ten years. Around that time, the first users are discarding their solar panels.

Manufacturers of solar panels have not taken recyclability into account when producing solar panels and recycling is not profitable for industry. That is the opinion of lead researcher solar energy Wim Sinke of TNO to BNR. “Actually, you would like materials for solar panels to be used again for solar panels. That is not the case now. They are used for other purposes, because they are of lower quality and no longer suitable for that purpose.”

Due to the poor recyclability, a considerable waste stream could start in five to ten years. By that time, the first generations of solar panels will have run out. According to Sinke, there should be research programs to improve recycling and the panels should be easier to take apart.

Market research and sustainability manager Imco Goudswaard of DSM Advanced Solar agrees with the TNO researcher. “We notice that there is still little attention for this in the solar industry. They have postponed the problem.” According to Goudswaard, the attention is growing and the industry still has ten years to optimize the recycling process.

According to him, one of the problems is that companies wrap the cells in a transparent adhesive layer to protect them. Glue is one of the materials that makes effective recycling more difficult. Goudswaard proposes regulations that ensure that solar panels with recyclable materials are given preference. According to him, this could be done with an ecolabel, among other things.