New Jersey has a long history of “firsts”, and that honor includes solar technology. In fact, the first viable silicon solar cell was introduced to the world way back in 1954 at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.
Today, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) reports that, even with our small geography and high population density, New Jersey is ranked eighth in the United States for total installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, behind California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, and Georgia.
With over 176,000 installations in our state (almost 50% non-residential), the total capacity of New Jersey’s photovoltaic (PV) systems is topping 4,387MW — enough to power more than half a million households. With 416 in-state solar companies, solar is also a large employer. According to the NJDEP, solar power produces 6.64% of the state’s total energy. The Garden State is very green indeed. Unfortunately, there is also some not-so-green news: With 1 GW of installed solar in New Jersey, there’s no real plan or process for the disposition of less productive, damaged, and unusable PV panels.
Solar panel lifecycle (and why it’s important)
With US solar installations really kicking into gear in 2010 (55 years after that momentous introduction at Bell Labs), solar incentives and interest have led to massive, non-stop adoption across the US. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), as installations have increased, manufacturing efficiencies have also improved. Technological advances have resulted in increased overall panel efficiency. As a result, solar panels deployed today arc superior and cheaper than those produced a decade ago. In the 2023 Solar Panel Industry Research Report published by the SEIA, the association reveals that costs have fallen by 70% since 2010, making both rooftop and utility-scale solar generation competitive with other forms of electricity generation.
In a report from EnergySage, a solar research and marketing firm, entitled “How Solar Panel Cost and Efficiency Have Changed Over Time,” the company notes that “What started at 6% panel efficiency is now commercially available and cost-effective at 23% efficiency.” The article also suggests that the power productivity of panels hasn’t topped out yet. “Laboratory prototypes have reached 47% efficiency but are not (yet) available as a marketable product,” the company suggests.
Improving technology and lower costs arc resulting in shorter ROI realization. As a result, innovation and market forces are pushing older, still functional solar panels into an out-of-service status; prematurely obsolete.
Here’s the math: Early solar adopters from 2010 who installed solar panels with 15% efficiency are experiencing an annual 1-2% efficiency degradation. As a result, these older solar panels produce less energy. At the same time, newer technology panels produce 10% more energy and are much lower in cost.
Any cost analysis must also factor in New Jersey’s higher power costs—about 33% higher than the rest of the country, according to the Energy Information Administration—as well as available solar incentives from state and federal governments.
Without pulling out a calculator, it’s easy to see why older commercial PV systems are targets for upgrades to new, improved systems that will yield a quick ROI and ongoing long-term cost savings.
However, what happens to the older panels when they are removed for an upgrade, a reroof, or a change in ownership? And what about panels that are dam aged in transit, during installation, or in disasters like floods, hurricanes, and fires?
Tons of solar waste (is a waste)
Until recently, the disposition of solar panels has been a “tomorrow” problem. With long warranties and lifecycles, planning for the bubble of solar technology E-waste has not been top of mind.
According to data from the MIT Technical Review, the United States is estimated to have one million tons of waste from decommissioned solar modules by 2030, while global estimates are expected to be 8 times greater. After that, the totals skyrocket as PV systems age out and are replaced with newer, more productive technology.
In fact, it’s already creating a big problem and a green industry oxymoron. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that 90 percent of retired solar panels are dumped in landfills. Why? Consider the following:
1. There are no federal regulations pre venting solar panels from going to landfills (despite hazardous leaching risks).
2. Due to recycling facility scarcity and capacity, dumping panels in a landfill is significantly cheaper (dollars per panel) than responsible recycling ($15-20 per panel).
3. Disposition laws for residential and commercial installations differ from state to state.
4. Transport of used or damaged solar panels in some states is considered hazardous waste.
5. There’s no built-in cost for recycling or disposition in the purchase price.
If CRT tubes are a parable we might learn from, solar panels, especially those in large quantities, that are dumped today may be traced back to their owners with consequences as light as reputation damage and as significant as fines. When retired PV panels cannot be reused as a second life, recycling (even without regulatory muscle) is the only ethical, circular economy alternative.
Zero landfill solar panel recycling solutions
Typical recycling plants are not designed for recycling solar panels. Processing options for de-framing (removing aluminum sides), separating the glass from the back panels, and separation/purification of the silicon cells and specialty metals are very specific to the age, size, and technology of the panel.
A PV System recycling overview from the EPA states, “Many of these components can be recycled. Glass composes most of the weight of a solar panel (about 75 percent), and glass recycling is already a well-established industry. Other materials that are easily recyclable include the aluminum frame, copper wire, and plastic junction box.”
Silver, tin, tellurium and antimony are also contained within the solar cells as are very small levels of toxic metals like lead, arsenic and cadmium.
As there are currently no federal regulations dictating how to process end-of-life PV systems, they fall under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) guidelines which dictate what must be done with hazardous or nonhazardous solid wastes depending upon their chemical status at the time of generation, depending on the state, may be classified as hazardous waste. Only Minnesota and California have passed solar panel-specific recycling regulations.
Zero landfill solar panel recycling combines panel identification knowledge, packing and logistics, specialized machinery processing for separation, shredding and grinding and then downstream R2-certified recycling.
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