UNSW addresses challenge of managing end-of-life solar panels – Mining.com.au

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney is addressing the challenge of managing end-of-life solar panels, via opening up an Australian-first research hub dedicated to recycling.
UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise professor Bronwyn Fox says photovoltaic (PV) waste in Australia is forecast to reach 100,000 tonnes per year by 2030.
“As we accelerate toward a net zero future, we must ensure the technologies enabling that transition are themselves sustainable,” Fox says.
Funded by a $5 million grant from the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Industrial Transformation Research Program, the hub will tackle pressing challenges through research and deep collaboration with industry.
Hub Director professor Yansong Shen says there is an urgent need for a strong solar panel recycling industry, as many of Australia’s 3.5 million solar installations would reach end-of-life in the next decade.
“End-of-life solar panels contain many valuable materials like glass, silicon, silver, and copper,” Shen says.
“Our goal is to move these panels away from landfill and towards recycling in a circular economy where materials are recovered and reused.”
Initiatives already underway at the hub include finding better ways to recover valuable materials from old solar panels, developing improved technologies to separate and sort panel components more efficiently, and redesigning panels so they are easier to be recycled.
The hub will also advance policy by creating a network of researchers who will improve the entire value chain of solar panel production.
Fox adds that the hub brings together Australian engineers, scientists, policy makers, and industry to transform end-of-life solar panels from an emerging waste challenge into a valuable resource.
As previously reported, the World Economic Forum reports that there are several ways to increase recycling rates, including from solar panels. Solar panel recycling can recover up to 99% of material from decommissioned panels, preventing hazardous landfill waste and supporting a circular economy.
Solar panels are considered important due to providing renewable and clean energy that reduces electricity bills and carbon footprint.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), solar PV’s power capacity is poised to surpass that of coal by 2027. Solar PV generation increased by a record 320 terawatts per hour in 2023, reaching more than 1,600 terawatts per hour.
The IEA says it demonstrated the largest absolute generation growth of all renewable technologies in 2023.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
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