What happens when the billions of solar panels being installed are no longer useful?
That question is cropping up more often – and with good reason. Recycling solar panels is a nascent industry, and it remains unproven whether it can be a profitable one. If it doesn’t become profitable, we’ll have a bit of an issue on our hands.
I’m on record as saying that outside of rooftop solar, I’m not a fan of utility-scale power plants that operate at 25% efficiency 50% of the time. I get why we’re doing it – there isn’t a better solution. But that’s because we’ve flooded money into solar and wind while basically ignoring alternatives.
Nonetheless, here we are, which is why an article about SOLARCYCLE raising $30 million caught my eye. The new funding followed a seed round of $6.6 million.
Founded in 2022, SOLARCYCLE positions itself as making solar even more sustainable by building a circular economy. It claims to be able to recycle 95% of vital materials including silver, silicon, copper, and aluminum. It has an impressive pedigree and some serious partners including Sunrun.
I view the company as a bellwether on the viability of solar panel recycling. And when I say viability, I mean doing it profitability. Because unless some entity is willing to subsidize the effort, the only way to achieve recycling at scale is to make money at it. Keep an eye on SOLARCYCLE’s progress.