Recycling solar panels installed in 2020 could supply up to 21% of the silver needed for new panel production by 2035. Technical advances are making panel recycling more economic. Materials buyers and solar asset owners feel it first.
This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Energy teams put it to work with Customer Stories & Case Studies.
Key facts, context, and what it means.
Key takeaways
Panels installed in 2020 could supply up to 21% of the silver needed for solar panel production in 2035, a 15-year lag that suggests recycled supply could be estimated from installation records.
European researchers estimate recycling could cover about 25% of cobalt and 15% of lithium, nickel and manganese supply by 2030.
A recycler's recovery rate means little without its purity: TNO's laser process reported roughly 97% yield with silver at 99.7% purity, the pairing that tells a manufacturer whether the metal is usable.
Free workspace
Turn your Energy expertise into content.
Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.
On this page
Solar panels installed in 2020 could supply up to 21% of the silver the industry needs to build new panels in 2035, according to research from Rystad Energy.
The squeeze behind the argument is familiar. Electric vehicles, solar, battery storage and bigger grids are driving up demand for copper, rare earths, silver and other materials, and the International Energy Agency expects transition-linked mineral demand to keep growing for decades. New mines, refineries and processing plants take years to build.
Redwood Materials and International Energy Agency, via Reuters
Reuters reports that the supply of batteries available for recycling should keep growing, now that the earliest large-scale EV batteries are reaching maturity.
In Europe, the forecasts are closer and more specific. Researchers estimate roughly 15% of lithium, nickel and manganese supply could come from recycled sources by 2030. Cobalt stands out. Researchers estimate around 25% of European cobalt supply could come from recycling by 2030, which suggests recycled material could become a mainstream input for that metal.
Redwood says the materials it recovers are an expanding domestic supply, one that can cut reliance on imports and on new mining. In Reuters' account, recycling is changing from a waste-management problem into a strategic industrial opportunity.
Retired panels have mainly given recyclers glass and aluminum. Separating the valuable parts, the silver and silicon, has often been difficult or not worth the cost. Reuters reports that several recent technical advances are making solar-panel recycling more economic, letting recyclers extract silver and silicon more efficiently.
A laser-assisted process shown by researchers at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) recovered silicon at purity up to 99.998% and silver at 99.7%, with yields of about 97%. At the University of Newcastle in Australia, researchers recovered close to 100% of the silver from end-of-life solar panels. Their method relies on flotation techniques the mining industry already knows, and it can be scaled commercially.
When a recycler quotes a recovery rate, ask for the purity as well. Yield tells you how much metal comes back, and purity tells you whether a manufacturer can use it. TNO's demonstration reported both.
According to Rystad Energy, recyclable materials from solar panels are worth around $2 billion today, and that total could reach roughly $80 billion by 2050. The estimate is based on how widely solar is being deployed worldwide and on the expected rise in materials prices. The consultancy's 2035 outlook shows that this value is spread unevenly across materials.
That spread matters to buyers. A 21% share suggests recycled silver could become a meaningful input for panel makers by 2035, while a 2% share suggests recycled copper would stay small next to mined supply. A materials planner can't treat "solar recycling" as one number. Each metal has its own forecast, and only some of them are big enough to change a sourcing plan.
The detail most readers will skim past is the vintage. Rystad's 2035 shares come from recycling panels installed in 2020.
Solar manufacturers and the teams that buy their silver paste and polysilicon could start modeling recycled feedstock in long-range sourcing, with volumes linked to known installation records. For operators who own solar fleets or battery assets, retirement value could be worth tracking in decommissioning plans, since Rystad's valuation factors in an expected increase in materials prices.
Wind power is experiencing its own recycling breakthrough, according to Reuters. Most of a turbine can already be recycled, but the blades have long been the hard part.
One development could show whether solar recycling is becoming a dependable source of supply: whether laser-assisted separation or flotation moves from a published result to a contracted plant with stated throughput.
Sources
Featured companies
Your experts belong here
Every story in MarketScale Energy starts with a company putting its field engineers, operations leads, and project developers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.
Developers and operators shortlist on credibility, and your engineers give your sales team something real to send.
About the author
The MarketScale Newsroom reports on the companies, technologies, and trends shaping 16 B2B industries. It turns primary sources and expert commentary into clear, useful coverage for the people doing the work.
Explore the publications, audience data and ways to participate in The MarketScale Network.
Your experts, this publication
MarketScale turns your field engineers, operations leads, and project developers into coverage like this.
MarketScale platform
Want to launch your own Energy podcast or show?
MarketScale gives Energy B2B marketing teams a full content studio: record, produce, and distribute your own channel. No agency, no crew, no guessing.
The week in Energy, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.
Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.
Keep exploring
Document deployments as proof.
Benchmarks for editing at scale.
energy Events
Renewable Energy India Expo 2026
Oct 22, 2026 · Greater Noida
Brazil Windpower 2026
Oct 27, 2026 · Sao Paulo
RE+ 2026
Nov 16, 2026 · Las Vegas, NV
Become a Energy Voice
Share your Energy expertise with B2B marketing teams across MarketScale’s 1,250+ brand network.
The week in Energy, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.
Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.
Energy: are you visible to AI?
Before they reach out, Energy buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.
Free Trial
This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your field engineers, operations leads, and project developers into the articles, video, and social content Energy buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.
NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries
What your free trial includes
More Energy Insights
Massachusetts queue delays put 2027 solar tax credits at risk
Catalyst Power says interconnection delays are now a tax-credit risk, not just a schedule risk. In Massachusetts, a project tied to a 2029 transmission upgrade could miss the Dec. 31, 2027 deadline that SEIA says now governs many solar projects, putting 30% to 50% of ITC value at risk.
Oct 2, 2026
Only 33% of utility executives call asset management advanced, IFS survey finds
Fifty-seven percent of utility executives call AI critical to cutting costs. Only 33% rate their asset lifecycle management as advanced, and 49% report operational data silos.
Sep 30, 2026
Siemens Canada to build a digital twin of Rock Tech's Ontario lithium converter
Siemens Canada will develop a digital process twin for Rock Tech Lithium's planned Red Rock Lithium Converter in Ontario. The plant is planned for up to 32,000 tonnes a year of lithium carbonate equivalent. Siemens will also support the ongoing definitive feasibility study, expected to be finalized by mid-December 2026, in process control, instrumentation and automation architecture.
Sep 29, 2026
Explore More Energy Insights
Read more expert perspectives from across Energy.
About the Expert
Editorial Team
MarketScale
The MarketScale Newsroom reports on the companies, technologies, and trends shaping 16 B2B industries. It turns primary sources and expert commentary into clear, useful coverage for the people doing the work.
For Energy teams
See how Energy teams use MarketScale →
Industry news, analysis, and expert perspectives
For B2B teams
Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Energy and beyond.
Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512
© 2026 MarketScale, Inc.

source