Solar's Second Life: The Untapped Business of Solar Panel Circularity
by Heather Alvis, Founder & CEO of Electra
The Solar Industry’s Success—and Its Next Challenge
Solar power has been one of the greatest success stories of the clean energy transition. Over the past two decades, the industry has seen rapid growth, creating jobs, boosting energy independence, and revitalizing domestic manufacturing. At the start of 2025, solar energy accounted for over 5% of total U.S. electricity generation, and it was projected to play an increasingly dominant role. However, with shifting federal policies, changing incentives, and new uncertainties around investment, many are now questioning how strong the industry’s trajectory will remain under the new administration.
The solar sector is facing various challenges, including net metering changes, tariffs, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding modifications, and rising energy demands. While these shifts introduce headwinds, they also create a strategic opportunity. By investing in circularity, the U.S. can enhance solar's value proposition by ensuring that materials are recovered and reused domestically. A well-designed panel reuse and recycling system could strengthen supply chains, drive cost efficiencies, and position solar as an even more attractive option for investors and policymakers.
Unlike traditional energy sources, solar offers a chance to build a truly circular economy in which materials are recovered, reused, and reintegrated into the supply chain rather than discarded. Solar panels are 95% recyclable and have an average installed lifecycle of about 10-20 years (despite their 25-40 year warranty), yet without a structured way to collect them, most (90%) end up in landfills. Estimates suggest that by 2037, over 100 million panels will be retired annually in the U.S., rising to 250 million annually by 2047, contributing to over 78 million tons of PV waste globally.
While early efforts to build recycling capacity are underway, we still need a unified system to track, collect, and transport solar panels at scale from their installed location to recyclers. Some PV manufacturers partner with recyclers to process their manufacturing waste, but lack programs to help owners collect and transport panels after installation—leaving high costs and logistics burdens to the consumer. Without industry-wide, nationwide coordination, solar risks following the same waste trajectory as other highly recyclable materials like plastics, aluminum, e-waste, glass, and textiles, where recycling rates remain low due to logistical and economic barriers.
Why Current Solutions Aren’t Scaling
Several factors contribute to the challenges of solar panel recycling:
Lack of Standardization: At least 12 states are grappling with the question of what to do with the emerging wastestream of EOL solar panels. Without federal mandate for solar panel stewardship, producer end-of-life (EOL) responsibility, or recycling, states are left to develop patchwork policies that take years, if not decades, to pass legislation. Washington was the first to implement a solar panel stewardship law, but delays in enforcement have hampered progress. California, by contrast, has at least categorized EOL panels as universal waste, simplifying handling but not ensuring recycling.
Cost Disparity: Landfilling a solar panel costs around $1-$5, while recycling can cost between $15 and $30 per panel. Without financial incentives, disposal remains the cheapest option for most solar owners.
Logistics Challenges: Recyclers require large volumes of panels to process them cost-effectively, but individual system owners—mainly residential customers—lack a simple way to return panels.
66% of Americans would NOT recycle a product if it is not easy or convenient to do so.
-Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Despite common hurdles, efforts are emerging across the industry to tackle solar waste concerns. Manufacturers such as First Solar have developed in-house recycling programs, and Canadian Solar announced an internal takeback program late last year. However, these programs exclude collection and logistics management and costs. Third-party PV recyclers are expanding their operations, and most negotiate contracts with large-scale solar project owners or developers on a case-by-case basis. These are all important steps in the right direction; however, a truly scalable solution will require industry-wide coordination.
The Role of Policy: Lessons from Washington’s Delay
In 2017, Washington state passed the nation’s first solar panel stewardship law, requiring manufacturers to fund and implement takeback and recycling programs. Initially passed in 2017, it will likely be delayed until 2029 due to numerous industry-led requests. The delay reflects a common challenge in extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs: industry pushback and regulatory complexity.
Several factors contributed to this delay:
Industry Lobbying: Manufacturers and other industry stakeholders raised concerns over costs and compliance burdens, leading to calls for postponement.
Market Uncertainty: The law's creators expected manufacturers to form a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to manage a stewardship program for panels, but this never came to fruition, and instead little action was taken. Some claimed they would stop selling into the state, leading to fears of inventory shortages, while 11 submitted proprietary takeback plans to the agency. Electra submitted a Stewardship Plan open to all manufacturers, but the announcement of the potential delay has stalled further progress.
Lack of Participation: Despite numerous open meetings throughout the year hosted by the WA Department of Ecology for manufacturers, installers, developers, and distributors, relatively few joined, and of those that did, the dialogue centered around interpreting, modifying, and disputing the language in the bill.
Washington’s challenges offer key lessons for other states considering similar policies. Successful implementation will require precise funding mechanisms, alignment with industry needs, and stakeholder collaboration. Hiring more consultants and doing more research isn’t likely to result differently–we need states to collaborate, focus on solutions, and support innovation. Other models, such as Europe’s EPR frameworks, demonstrate how shared responsibility between manufacturers, installers, and customers can create more sustainable collection systems, and there is plenty of room for new ideas.
Expanding the Conversation: A Systems-Based Approach
Solving the solar panel waste challenge requires a coordinated, systems-based approach rather than fragmented, one-off solutions. A successful circular economy for solar must integrate tracking, collection, logistics, and funding—ensuring panels are responsibly reused or recycled instead of ending up in landfills.
Companies like Electra are working to address this issue by creating shared stewardship models that reduce the burden on individual manufacturers and installers. By leveraging digital tracking, existing recycling infrastructure, and partnerships across the supply chain, these programs can help scale solutions industry-wide. A centralized product stewardship model, rather than a patchwork of manufacturer-led initiatives, could lower costs, streamline compliance, and improve material recovery rates.
Who are Circularity Stakeholders?
Governments: Standardized state or federal policies that require accountability, help create consistency and ensure equitable cost distribution.
Panel Owners: Invest now in recycling insurance to support the long-term life cycle of their equipment and ensure panels are responsibly disposed of at EOL.
Collection Hubs & Recyclers: Partners and collaborators open to new labeling and tracking technology to enhance data collection.
Manufacturers: Support product stewardship programs and design panels with recyclability in mind to lower long-term costs.
Installers and Developers: Incorporate EOL fees into project costs and emphasize the added value of traceable panels, recycling incentives, and hassle-free disposal.
A prosperous circular economy for solar panels will require collaboration across these groups. The industry is already seeing progress in related sectors, such as battery recycling, where regulatory and market-based incentives have led to increased recovery rates.
Closing the Loop: How the Industry Can Move Forward
The transition to a circular economy in solar is no longer just an environmental initiative—it is a fundamental strategy for securing America’s energy future and reducing the financial burden on municipal waste management systems. By implementing circularity at scale, we can maximize the value of our domestic resources, strengthen supply chains, and reduce dependence on foreign materials. Investing in robust EOL management creates economic and job opportunities and ensures the longevity and sustainability of the solar industry amid shifting political and economic conditions.
What’s the Call to Action?
VOTE for bills and legislators that support product stewardship and EOL programs like Electra and EPR legislation, particularly for clean energy infrastructure.
SEEK products and services that support EOL responsibility and give priority to manufacturers, installers and developers who actively participate and financially support circular solutions.
ASK your installer or project developer what happens to your solar panels at EOL. Where do they go? Who pays for it?
INVEST in solutions that address systems and processes, like collection, tracking, and logistics. Recycling technology is essential, but it isn’t enough by itself.
We have everything we need to solve this challenge. By leveraging modern technology and opening up to new solutions, we can get ahead of incoming waste streams, retain valuable materials within our economy, and create a resilient clean energy infrastructure that benefits future generations.
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Thank you all. This article was an eye opening. We have a government that can't lead, an indifferent solar industry to recycling, an apathetic public that is uninterested in recycling. The perfect storm for ecological collapse. Another feather on the camels back.