While the concept of renewable energy sounds intuitive and innovative, an immense bottleneck in the form of photovoltaic waste is inevitable, especially with solar panel hardware. Several countries around the world have started making plans to tackle this growing concern, but so far, the United States seems to be far ahead and has started recycling future rooftops. In this article, we’ll examine the U.S blueprint to achieve this.
Photovoltaic recycling: A new era for solar panel waste
Renewable energy is no doubt the future of energy generation by a long shot, but like every good thing, it is consistently faced with its own hurdles. Hurdles in question include: Minimal efficiency, solar panel waste, slow adoption, cloggy integration to already existing infrastructure, among many others.
For the sake of this article, we will be focusing more on the waste side of photovoltaic technology. When integrating solar energy through rooftop solar panels into the home, what happens when the rooftop has been completely utilized and space seems to be an impending issue? Or better still, when installing panels, what happens if, during installation, some panels inevitably get damaged or are bad?
Examining the sheer scale of the solar waste challenge
The painful answer to the previously asked question will be to dispose of them, and unfortunately, this has been the case for a long time in major parts of the world. It has gotten so bad that no company or organization has been able to curb this growing problem. This type of issue has been seen before in plastics, and the long-lasting solution was recycling.
This got engineers and scientists in the U.S thinking: if recycling could solve the problem of waste, why could the same solution not be implemented into the growing photovoltaic waste problem? And while this initiative has led to the development of various recycling panels around the world.
EcoRecycle by Qcells: The United States’ answer to solar panel waste
With a renewed hope and objective, the new U.S recycling arm, Eco Recycle, has cemented its vision to recycle over 250 MW of panels annually. All of this in a bid to provide the U.S with a better perspective and an increased incentive to massively adopt the technology.
The idea is simple: if the concept of waste can be thoroughly dealt with, just about any nation in the world will move massively to also adopt the technology. Just like the most powerful island innovation by America, several countries are watching the U.S from behind the scenes to observe Q-Cells’ approach to solving the panel waste problem, recycling it for future rooftops.
If the company’s goals are effectively actualised, an efficient cycle will be born. A cycle where components never get waste, are used in the production of new rooftop panels, and completely reduce carbon footprints to zero, making the planet a better place to be.
How does a new era for solar panel waste affect you and the renewable energy industry?
In advanced countries like Germany and Denmark, recyclable shops with smart countertops that can receive any form of plastic waste exist and thrive freely, while also providing the user with cash upon returning the bottle. This simple model could also be applied to the photovoltaic energy landscape, causing an immense allure in pursuing adoption for the technology itself.
Recycling will now be seen as the norm, inevitably strengthening domestic supply chains of rooftop panels and reducing reliance on imports.
The future of rooftop panel technology is here. The era of photovoltaic waste has come to an end, with up to 250 MW, especially with the U.S intervention. The rest of the world is watching from a distance to observe how the U.S will mold its recycling initiative going forward, but since this is a relatively new venture, just like the floating solar land innovation, there’s no telling what direction the industry is headed.
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