India is aiming to hit a capacity of 450 GW of renewable energy, mostly on the back of large solar farms. The large proportion of renewables will lower the emission intensity of the country but one thing that is often left out of the equation is a solar waste.

While solar energy is one of the lowest carbon emitters over its entire lifecycle, it is not entirely blameless. Solar waste, or the waste from old and discarded solar power modules and photo-voltaic panels, is growing daily.

The problem

By the year 2030, 3,00,000 tonnes of solar waste is expected to pile up and in another two decades since then the figure would be more than quintuple at 18,00,000 tonnes of waste. There is no official government policy on how to deal with solar waste.

“The problem is not years away. It is right here right now. Developers have waste lying with them right now and this waste is mainly solar panels that get damaged in transportation or solar panels that were of poor quality that had to be replaced or damaged due to other reasons. This early life retirement of modules needs to be taken care of,” said Surbhi Singhvi of renewable energy consulting firm Bridge to India (BTI).

Solar panels and other components typically have a lifespan of about 25-30 years. But as more efficient modules and panels are being continuously designed, many older panels that have not reached the end of their lifespan will be removed and thrown in order to upgrade to the newer panels and technology.

It is hard to put a tag of fully ‘green’ or completely ‘eco-friendly’ to solar energy when its components sit around creating waste. The materials present in solar panels like polymers, lead, antimony, among others, can cause environmental damage as well.

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The solution

Companies are increasingly paying attention to this often overlooked equation of solar energy. Recycling components from solar panels remains the best option as up to 95 percent of materials in solar modules can be recycled while almost all of the materials found inside photo-voltaic panels can be reused.

Recycling discarded solar waste can lead to the production of enough solar panels to create 240,000 MW without the need for the extraction of more raw materials.

But technical issues regarding careful extraction of the materials and elements present in photo-voltaic panels have hampered the widespread recycling of solar waste. The EU requires all manufacturers to fund research into proper waste management of solar panels.

There is no such governmental action plan in India. So, private companies are joining initiatives like the Solar Waste Action Plan to explore the profitability and feasibility of solar recycling plants on a large scale, capable of processing over 2.5 tonnes of solar waste each day.

All technologies have a shelf life, whether they are eco-friendly or not. A significant part of sustainable action involves researching and implementing proper end of life solutions for all renewable technologies.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)