Lifespan of solar photovoltaic panels in western Bishkek

It is acknowledged that not much attention has been devoted to the end-of-life options for solar panels. The life of most commercially available panels is stated to exceed twenty years, and the lack of urgency in finding solutions may in part be attributed to the anticipated delay by which solutions are thought to be needed.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment has grown at unprecedented rates since the early 2000s. As the global PV market increases, so will the volume of decommissioned PV panels, and large amounts of annual waste are anticipated by the early 2030s.

This report is the first-ever projection of PV panel waste volumes to 2050. It highlights that recycling or repurposing solar PV panels at the end of their roughly 30-year lifetime can unlock an estimated stock of 78 million tonnes of raw materials and other valuable components globally by 2050.

Failure to consider the long term effects of previous technological revolutions have resulted in problems that are now being identified and dealt with. PV panels are certainly a solution to improving quality of life – but they too may have deleterious side effects which should be anticipated and mitigated.

As the global PV market increases, so will the volume of decommissioned PV panels, and large amounts of annual waste are anticipated by the early 2030s. Growing PV panel waste presents a new environmental challenge, but also unprecedented opportunities to create value and pursue new economic avenues.

Given the typical degradation rate of about 0.5–0.9% per year, a 10-year-old solar panel can be expected to retain 90–95% of its original efficiency. This means that if a solar panel started with an efficiency of 20%, it should still deliver around 18-19% efficiency after a decade. Should I Replace 15-Year-Old Solar Panels?