The company has secured a strategic site in Silver Lakes to process end-of-life photovoltaic modules for the Western United States. It will feed its Nevada facility that is designed to process more than 3 million solar panels annually.
Comstock Metals’ solar recycling plant.
Image: Comstock Metals
Comstock Metals has announced the expansion of its solar panel recycling network through the establishment of a new facility in Silver Lakes, California. The site serves as a satellite hub for the collection, preparation, and aggregation of decommissioned solar panels from across the Western United States.
According to the company’s recent press releases, this location is designed to feed Comstock’s primary recycling center in Silver Springs, Nevada, which recently received its final air quality and written determination permits.
The Nevada facility is designed to process more than 3 million solar panels annually, representing approximately 100,000 tons of waste, using a single continuous production line. This industrial-scale facility is currently on schedule for full commissioning during the first quarter of 2026.
The expansion follows an 18-month commercial demonstration phase during which the company successfully processed approximately 200,000 panels per year. Comstock’s mechanical process ensures 100% closed-loop recovery, meaning zero waste is sent to landfills. The system extracts high-value materials including glass, aluminum, copper, silver, and gallium for return to the manufacturing supply chain.
In its Q3 2025 financial reports, Comstock reported the capital investment for this first 100,000-ton capacity facility is approximately $12.5 million, which includes $10.5 million for processing equipment and additional costs for utility upgrades and storage.
Management has outlined a phased growth strategy that aims to reach a total national recycling capacity of 300,000 tons per year across three facilities by 2028. While the initial Nevada plant represents the blueprint for this scale, the company estimates that each new facility will require a capital investment between $12 million and $15 million to deploy.
By establishing the Silver Lakes hub in the heart of California, the largest solar market in the U.S., Comstock aims to streamline logistics and reduce the environmental impact of transporting decommissioned infrastructure. This development is intended to address a looming waste problem that Comstock chief executive officer Corrado De Gasperis forecast will soon be measured in the hundreds of millions of panels.
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