Old Solar Panels - a Waste or a Recyclable Asset?

Solar panels have maximum sustainable potential. In their life of benefiting, they provide the best and sustainable form of energy when they are in usage. Whether you look at the environmental benefits or the owner-benefits, these are the best solution from every aspect. These are not only because they provide a renewable form of energy and are environmentally-friendly, but also because they can be recycled when they get old. The old solar panel recycling is one of the most common practices in the US. Recycling takes place using all the machinery present in these industries. Recycling can sometimes be costly, but the materials obtained through it make it worth it.

What Is the Life Expectancy of a Solar Panel?

Solar panels have a long life, and they can be installed easily with just a one-time investment. A solar panel has an average life expectancy of about thirty years. When they are about to reach their end-life, most solar panels reduce their working mechanism for up to twenty percent.

Thirty years is a long time to get benefit from a single time investment.

This one-time investment offers an almost quarterly decade of free and renewable electricity. This investment could be the savior for your utility bills of thirty years. A Quarter-decade of enjoying the perks of having solar panels makes things comfortable.

The Idea Behind the Recycling of Solar Panels

The main reason behind the recycling of old solar panels is to carry on with the sustainability factor associated with the solar panels. The solar panel is a collection of several materials and substances. These materials include; aluminum, glass, silicon, lead, tin, heavy metals, and several more elements, compounds, and chemicals. All these substances and parts possess their individual qualities; therefore, these recycled materials make them of particular use.

The best way to recycle the solar panel is to obtain all the elements mentioned earlier separately. These shall be of great use once they are abstract by undergoing industrial procedures. Each part has its specialty, and together they make up the purely sustainable solar panels.

What Is the Procedure for Recycling Old Solar Panels?

There is a lengthy procedure for recycling old solar panels. The procedure involves various industrial methods, including mechanical, chemical, and thermal processes. Experts say that there is a lot of room for improvement in recycling old solar panels.

The initial step is the shredding of the old solar panel. This step involves the shredding of the solar panel into small fragments. The obtaining of short pieces is the first and necessary step towards their recycling.

These large fragments turn into smaller ones. After this, the separation of the semiconductors takes place. Extracted semiconductors are then reused in any other product later.

The remains go through a chemical procedure so that the glass can be abstracted. In the process of getting glass, it is found together with EVA. Afterwards, the collection of EVA and glass undergo operations to get separated from one another.

The glass which is separated is of help in making different types of equipment or products. This process is how the glass present in the solar cell goes under the process of recycling.

Then comes the metal compounds. The bulky metal has exceptionally high melting points. One can only achieve these temperatures under industrial processes.

One can do the obtaining of heavy metals from the solar cells under industrial processes.

Old solar panels are never troubling as there is always room for recycling things in the modern world. Precious assets like a solar panel remain precious even after they expire. They can be of sustainable use even after serving you with cheap and yet renewable energy.

To conclude, old solar panels are a recyclable asset proven by all the above information provided. They can never be a waste. The different elements used in them are of great use once recycled.