Solar panels are built to withstand decades of harsh weather, so it's difficult to break the resilient bonding that keeps them together. Separating the glass without it shattering, for example, is a challenge. But with robotic suction arms assisted by workers, they come apart.
“Solar energy is a great technology, but it can feed a whole industry like aluminum and glass. Why are we spending tens of millions of dollars on these materials from overseas when we can produce them right here, right now?" he thought. By 2050, solar waste will total some 78 million tons globally, said Mool Gupta, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Virginia. The reason recycling and recovery isn't robust yet, Gupta said, is that companies struggle to justify the $30 per panel cost when it costs only $1 to send it to a landfill.
Market researcher Visiongain estimates the global market at US $138 million for last year and growing fast, boosted in part by incentives offered in the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. The Yuma facility can process 7,500 panels in a single day or roughly 69 million pounds per year. As of early June, it estimates more than 650,000 tons of carbon dioxide have been avoided. It is reusing about 60% of the panels that come in.
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