How big is the Solar trash problem ?

We have been seeing very fast introduction of solar energy by installing solar panels across the world.

In 2019 China, US and India continued to the world's largest solar energy generators with 205 GW, 76 GW and 43 GW installed solar capacity in the respective countries. Most of these installations have begun generating energy only by mid 2000.  Given the panel life of 25 years, we can expect a great disposal problem of solar panels into the future.

US saw 13 GW home solar installation in 2019 which jumped to 19 GW in 2020. In US with almost 19 GW of domestic solar installations, it is feared that by 2025, because of early replacement there would be almost 315,000 T trash generated. 

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) predicts that the e-waste generated by renewable energy sources by 2050 would be to the tune of 76 million tonnes (Ref HBR June 2021, The Dark side of solar power by Atasu, Durran and Wassenhowe click here).

With costs dropping every year and efficiency on new panels increasing by 0.5% every year, (on fixed panels efficiencies reduce by 1% every year becauseoftheprogressive deteriorationof the glass coatings) people preferring to replace less efficient panels with more efficient panels at low costs is high. The present efficiencies of solar panels are between 18-19 %.

The figure on the right (taken from HBR June '21) is an indication of the trash which is generated in US domestic installations with old installations serving their life in green colour against early replacements in red colour.

Since the financial returns from early replacement is attractive for domestic consumers, they tend to do early replacement and this is going to generate the maximum solar trash.

On an average about 90 tonnes of solar equipment are needed for each MW of solar power generated. Considering about 19 GW is the total domestic solar power generation in US alone, imagine the weight of solar panels that would have to be disposed in the next 5-10 years. Over the next four years it is going to be 315,000 tonnes.

With all this data how much of the solar trash are we ready to do green processing or help enter the circular economy and how much would be disposed in landfills. 

The initial deign of these solar panels should include materials that are not bound to create great environmental damage. The government should provide subsidies for green disposal. Manufacturers should be given the responsibility of disposing of the end of life products to ensure green power generation across the country.

Circular economy measures to extend the life of the products is a sure way to handle the trash problem and make it manageable in the near future.

George.