Waste products from electric generation are a widespread problem: Nuclear waste, coal ash, solar waste.
Solar waste?
DEFG, a Washington-based think tank focused on electric customers, released a study this week focused on the growing problem of what to do with photovoltaic solar panels after they have reached the end of their usefulness. DEFG CEO Jamie Wimberly, says, “As consumer investment in solar grows, so does the question of what will happen when those systems reach the end of life.” Disposing of the panels, which contain toxic materials, presents challenges the industry appears to not have yet taken seriously.
According to the report, some 375 MW of installed U.S. residential rooftop solar will reach the end of its useful life in the next 5-10 years. This is from 1.5 million solar panels that will, according to the report, “equate to 30,000 tons of solar waste sometime in the future. There are only seven existing facilities in the United States than can recycle the solar waste.”
That’s today. The future may be grimmer, as the solar boom will product exponential growth of solar waste. Karen Lefkowitz, the study’s author and CEO of Sunset Energy, a management consulting firm which worked with DEFG, said, “Customers, particularly those that were early adopters of solar energy, want confidence that the disposal process adheres to the philosophy of reduce, reuse, recycle. However, there are obstacles that must be overcome before there is a process ready for the impending volume of panels. And there really isn’t the capability to handle even a fraction of the projected solar waste today.”
Among the key findings of the report:
* The U.S. is not well prepared for a boom in solar detritus. “The newest and best facilities in the world today can only handle 1,000 tons annually. None of those facilities exist in the United States.”
* Normal warranties cover solar panels for a projected lifespan of 20 years. But many may go out of service earlier, due to fire, weather – including wind – and customer preferences. “Assuming that some percentage of installed solar will need to be removed sooner, the challenge becomes even more pressing.”
* Solar panels have many components, some of which are toxic. More panels will also incorporate battery storage, “adding to the problems of removal and disposal of hazardous materials.”
* Dealing with solar waste will be expensive, “including costs associated with removal from the customer’s property, any repairs to the roof or property, transportation to recycling facility, extraction of usable parts or materials, transportation of unsalvageable parts or components to landfill, and long-term storage of waste.”
* Who will pay? Likely, disposal costs will be shared among “customers, solar providers, utilities and municipal governments. But many uncertainties exist on who is contractually responsible and who pays the costs. This is especially true of customer-owned solar systems.”
* Among those uncertainties, experience has already shown that many original solar providers won’t survive in the competitive market and be around to remove the rooftop solar units. “This will shift the costs and burdens to other parties.”
This last item is one that energy analyst and nuclear advocate Michael Shellenberger raised in a Forbes article in May 2018: If Solar Panels Are So Clean, Why Do They Produce So Much Toxic Waste? Some have argued that solar cleanup, with recycling, could become a profitable business. He quoted Cara Libby of the Electric Power Research Institute, who has followed solar issues for many years, “Either it becomes economical or it gets mandated. But I’ve heard that it will have to be mandated because it won’t ever been economical.”
Shellenberger noted, “Since 2016, Sungevity, Beamreach, Verengo Solar, SunEdison, YingliGreen Energy, Solar World, and Suniva have gone bankrupt.”
DEFG’s Wimberly said, “We want the solar market to continue to grow and succeed. However, for customers and society to fully benefit, some serious thought needs to be put towards what to do with all the projected solar waste in the future.”
— Kennedy Maize