After completing its second full-year of operation, SolarCycle shared its “annual impact data” for 2024. The company successfully recycled 480,406 solar panels in 2024 and increased its recycling capacity by 228%.
SolarCycle
Its original recycling facility in Odessa, Texas, has already been expanded. SolarCycle is adding two new processing lines, which will double its panel recycling capacity at the facility and increase the purity of its material outputs. The company also began construction on its “circular solar campus” in Cedartown, Georgia. That site will recycle panels and make glass for solar panels out of the recycled materials. The Georgia site will have the capacity to process 10 million solar panels per year and manufacture nearly 6 GW of solar glass.
Last year, SolarCycle also opened its research and development center in Mesa, Arizona, where it employs metallurgists, chemists, and engineers to advance solar panel recycling technology.
“Analysts predict that by 2050, the world will see as many as 3.3 billion retired solar panels needing end of life solutions. At the same time, domestic demand for clean power and critical materials is sky-high. The industry winners will be able to see how these two issues intersect,” said Suvi Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder at SOLARCYCLE. “Scalable, credible, and advanced solar panel recycling is key to our country’s energy and manufacturing goals. Our work is to make sure valuable materials from retired solar panels stay in the domestic supply chain and out of landfills. We’re proud of last year’s contributions to this mission and we look forward to another landmark year advancing the circular economy.”
Starting in 2025, the company expects a significant influx of decommissioned panels as power providers repower solar assets with more efficient technologies. SolarCycle aims to recycle nearly 1 million solar panels by the end of 2025 and be positioned to process two-times that amount in 2026.
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Very timely reporting and recycling solar panels will expand a lot as time goes on. Last time I checked here in Hawaii there was a $60 fee per module to recycle. Expensive! And that did not include the labor to remove from roof.