In the european union regulations governing the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment weee include solar panels and indicate the way forward for the handling of green hardware.
How do you dispose of solar panels.
How to dispose of solar panels.
If you were one of the early adopters of solar and now have old panels that you want to replace you might have to take them to a landfill.
A federal disposal and decommissioning fund would then dispense funds to state and local governments to help pay for removal and recycling or long term storage of solar panel waste.
Otherwise valuable resources that could be used to make more solar panels will end up in landfills.
Solar panel recycling times.
There are two distinct types of solar panels and each undergoes similar yet different recycling methods.
Silicon and thin film solar panels.
Disposal of solar panels.
A 2018 report from the institute of energy research suggests imposing a recycling fee on solar panel purchases.
The funds would then in the future be dispensed to state and local.
It s important for these panels to be recycled.
From a regulatory aspect pv panel waste still falls under the general waste classification.
Once a solar battery is dead the proper thing to do is to disconnect it from the solar system and dispose it properly.
An average solar panel operates efficiently for nearly 30 years.
An obvious solution would be to impose a new fee on solar panels that would go into a federal disposal and decommissioning fund.
But talk to a local solar installer for specific ideas because in certain cities there may be better alternatives.
Many manufacturers make solar panels with parts that can be reused after they re processed in a.
A sole exception exists at eu level where pv panels are defined as e waste in the waste electrical and electronic equipment weee directive.
It is not recommended to connect the old battery with a new battery because this will cause problems.
The best way to dispose of solar panels is to safely recycle them using a reputable dealer.
Although we need a relatively modest recycling capacity today this trend will change especially if solar growth forecasts are correct.