Ørsted commits to solar panel recycling in the US

Ørsted will team up with recycling firm SOLARCYCLE to process and recycle Ørsted's end-of-life solar panels from its projects across the US, the main solar market for Ørsted.

The agreement forms part of Ørsted's global commitment to solar panel recycling. According to a statement from the Danish energy company, they are the "world's first energy developer to commit to reuse or recycle all solar panels from its global portfolio of solar farms with immediate effect".

SOLARCYCLE's recycling facility in Texas extracts valuable materials from panels, like silver, copper, and aluminium, and materials such as glass and silicon. These materials are then refined and used to make newer, higher-efficiency solar panels.

According to SOLARCYCLE, their recycling technology can extract 95% of the value from solar panels.

Once solar panels arrive at the facility, SOLARCYCLE evaluates whether they can be reused on-site. If a panel cannot be reused, SOLARCYCLE runs the panel through its advanced recycling process.

The aluminium frame and junction box are removed, the glass is delaminated, and the remaining panel is shredded.

The shredded materials go through a proprietary process to recover valuable metals, and those materials are returned back to the supply chain, including domestic solar manufacturers.

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Solar power is one of the key green technologies supporting the energy transition and forms the basis of many decarbonisation strategies. As more of the technology is deployed, more raw materials are needed and therefore mined, impacting the environment as well as society.

The problem, suggests Ørsted, is that recycling practices are limited, with panels often ending up in the landfill.

To lower dependency on raw materials, Ørsted plans to reuse or recycle end-of-life solar panels and bring the materials back into manufacturing.

According to SOLARCYCLE, the volume of end-of-life panels is expected to increase as the market for solar installations continues to grow. Today, less than 10% of all end-of-life modules are currently recycled in the US.

Ingrid Reumert, Senior Vice President, and Head of Global Stakeholder Relations at Ørsted, says: "We want to create a world that runs entirely on green energy, and we want to do it in a sustainable way. Addressing the most critical waste problem of the solar industry, while mitigating social and environmental impacts in the supply chain, is essential to doing so. This is an industry-first commitment and complements our already existing ambition to reuse or recycle all wind turbine blades."