A marketplace for recycling solar panels across Australia 🌞

• Liam Mills
• Bangshuo Zhu
• Eric Li
• WenXi (Edward) Zheng

In the climate-tech space, there can be a tendency for new technologies to “pass the buck” of environmental responsibility down the supply chain. For example, solar panels are a great source of renewable energy, but not much thought is put into what happens to them after retirement age. Currently, dumping is by far the most popular method of retirement, but if dumped, these panels become extremely harmful due to the leaking of materials such as lead and cadmium into the environment. Adding to this issue is the fact that current methods of recycling are significantly more expensive than the alternative of dumping. So, even though these panels may have a positive environmental impact, there are still concerns that must be addressed as we increase our reliance on renewables.

At Suncycle, we have identified three key issues regarding solar panel recycling: firstly, the secondary market for recyclable materials lacks consistency in sourcing materials. Following on from this, there are logistical inefficiencies in solar panel recycling, which arise from the complexities of managing solar panels past their operational lifetime, such as the different types requiring different recycling processes.

Our solution to these problems is to create a map to visualise the geolocations of solar panel farms. Through this map, users will be able to search for solar panels by area, material makeup, and recycling method. The attached database records the material makeup of each panel, as well as its working lifetime. By keeping a track of this data, when certain materials become available those who require the materials can plan ahead using our platform, which increases consistency in sourcing recyclable materials. The complexity of recycling different types of solar panels is also reduced, as the database tracks the types within each farm or panel group, and allows for prior planning of the supply flow by recyclers.