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By Ahmed Yussuf
Topic:Recycling and Waste Management
Australia's solar panel waste is projected to reach about 90,000 tonnes annually by 2030. (AP: Anton L. Delgado)
The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering has called for a national reuse and recycling scheme for solar panels that would add about $10 to the cost of each panel at installation.
The proposal was made during a federal inquiry into solar panel waste but some experts say recycling could cost more due to transport and logistics.
A national solar panel recycling pilot program due to begin mid this year is yet to start.
One of Australia's leading science organisations says an additional installation fee of about $10 for each panel could help solve Australia's rooftop solar waste problem.
However, experts fear the cost of recycling the waste products could exceed the funds generated by the fee, due to transport and logistics costs.
At present, one in three homes in Australia has rooftop solar, with about 300,000 systems being installed annually.
But only 17 per cent of solar panels are recycled, according to the Productivity Commission.
Australia is on the brink of a solar panel waste crisis. Experts say there's much to do before a national recycling program can stand on its own two feet.
During a parliamentary inquiry into solar panel reuse and recycling, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering (ATSE) called for a national recycling scheme for used solar panels, funded by a fee of between $10 and $20 for each panel at installation.
Acting CEO Peter Derbyshire said ATSE recommended establishing a solar panel product stewardship scheme that shifted cost and responsibility to manufacturers, importers and customers.
In 2017 the federal government put on a list of national priorities "establishing a product stewardship scheme for solar panels", a scheme that would manage the life cycle of products.
In January, Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a pilot program for national solar panel recycling, which was suppose to begin in mid-2026.
But a spokesperson from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said procurement of the program had not been completed.
"The government remains committed to the pilot," a DCCEEW spokesperson said in a statement.
Australia generates about 60,000 tonnes of solar panel waste every year, and the federal government projects that figure could rise to 90,000 by 2030.
By comparison, in 2023-24, Australia generated 27 million tonnes of building and demolition waste, 15 million tonnes of organic waste and 10 million tonnes of coal ash, according to the National Waste and Resource Recovery Report 2024.
Australian National University's professor Andrew Blakers, who specialises in solar systems, said solar panel waste was a small issue.
"It is about 5 kilograms per person per year, which is a very, very small amount of waste compared with even household waste, let alone commercial industrial waste."
US researchers project a worst-case scenario of 160 million tonnes of solar waste being produced between 2016 and 2050. (Supplied: ARENA)
He added that outside of the metal frame and cables, about 90 per cent of a solar panel was glass.
"Glass is an incredibly cheap and safe waste material," he said.
"A solar panel is actually almost equivalent to a windscreen, which is also a laminated glass structure. Both can simply be crushed and put in landfill without any significant problems."
Even in the worst-case scenario, researchers from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory projected about 160,000 million tonnes of solar panel waste would be generated between 2016 and 2050 worldwide.
In comparison, municipal and coal ash waste was tipped to hit a combined total of 100 billion tonnes over the same period.
University of Sydney's Penelope Crossley, who specialises in legal issues associated with the energy transition, examined recycling schemes in more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide.
Professor Crossley said in Europe the cost of recycling a solar panel was "broadly comparable" with the $10 to 20 per-panel estimate cited by the ATSE.
European estimates put the cost at about €300 to €500 ($490 to $815) per tonne, but that was not the final cost, she said.
Under EU regulation, manufacturers are expected to finance the collection and treatment of solar panel waste. (ABC Landline)
Collection, transport and processing affected the cost.
"In regional and remote areas of Australia, this could add significant cost. It can be very easy to forget that a regulatory solution not only has to work in Sydney, but also in Wilcannia."
The European Union's waste electrical and electronic equipment directive placed the responsibility of solar panels on producers, she said.
It meant the regulation required them to finance the collection and treatment of solar panels at the end of their life.
Australia is the world’s biggest iron ore exporter, but the Australian Renewable Energy Agency says ultra-low-cost solar could make it a green iron superpower. 
"The cost is built into the regulatory framework rather than simply falling on the household or business disposing of the panel," Professor Crossley said.
She said a challenge she had witnessed in other jurisdictions was laws and regulations having unintended consequences for solar panel recycling.
"We don't automatically assume that a solar panel being taken off a roof is going to be waste.
"We need to think about whether that solar panel could be reused as an interim step in the process."
Some experts say a stewardship scheme could help create a more circular economy.
Those schemes can take a few forms: it can be a co-regulatory partnership between industry and government, led by industry through voluntary arrangement, or mandatory under the law.
University of Melbourne's circular economy chair Damien Giurco said several products had stewardship schemes including TVs, computers, oil, plastics and packaging and others.
Professor Giurco said it was sensible to have a solar panel scheme from the moment of installation.
"Otherwise, if you look to when people are getting rid of the solar panels, asking people to pay then is trickier," he said.
"So I think this idea of setting it up so that there's a little bit of money, a little deposit that can see the rest of the system runs well.
The economic benefits of recycling solar panels could provide real economic benefits, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide.
The study found the recycling industry could generate up to $US670.8 billion ($950.6 billion) globally by 2060.
"We need to think of solar panels as part of a circular economy rather than a disposable product," professor Jian Zuo, co-author of the study, said.
Penelope Crossley says a user-pay scheme is important because otherwise lower-income earners who cannot afford rooftop solar would help subsidise the costs. (ABC News: Rhiannon Shine)
Unlike in Europe, Professor Crossley said, Australia should have a user-pay system because renewable energy subsidies favoured high to middle-income earners.
She said solar panel recycling was necessary, but the challenge included ensuring solutions were economically efficient and made environmental sense.
The worst-case scenario at present was sending solar panels to landfill, knowing they contained elements worth stockpiling in future such as polysilicon, silver and others, Professor Crossley said.
"You don't want solar panels being stockpiled at warehouses either.
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