Denmark/United States – Ørsted has pledged to reuse or recycle every solar panel from its portfolio of solar farms worldwide, effective immediately.
As one of its primary markets for solar energy, the US is where Ørsted is launching a new cooperation with Solarcycle, a technology-based solar recycling business, to process and recycle Ørsted’s end-of-life solar panels from its projects there.
A crucial technology for the switch to green energy and for reducing global warming is solar energy. Large quantities of virgin materials are needed for the implementation of this technique. The mining of these has negative social and environmental effects, and access to these materials is becoming more and more competitive.
Limited recycling and reuse
Reusing or recycling end-of-life solar panels and reusing the resources in manufacture is an important strategy for reducing reliance on virgin materials. Solar panel recycling and reuse are currently limited, and landfilling is nevertheless widespread. This implies that materials having a high value for the shift to green energy are just thrown out.
The Texas recycling plant for Solarcycle separates the valuable components from panels, including silicon, glass, and metals like silver, copper, and aluminum. These components can be refined by Solarcycle to create the next iteration of solar panels that are more advanced and efficient. With the goal of increasing its global onshore portfolio to 17.5 GW of wind and solar PV capacity by 2030, Ørsted has been expanding its onshore portfolio over the last few years.
