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@paperburn

4 ай бұрын

Sure as soon as the volume gets high enough to make profitability. Right now most are sold to us DYI on the cheap and because they are cheap we want them. sure they only have 75 percent of rated output but the sell for 20 percent of the cost of new and still have another 20 years of life before they reach 50 percent. ROI baby ROI

@justthefacts8239

4 ай бұрын

One number was not presented in the video - what is the value of the recycled materials? At $15-18 cost of recycling, I assume that is the net cost (cost of recycling (R) - value of recovered materials (M)). It seems like M could increase only slightly, and so, to make it profitable, we need to reduce R. At the end of the video, we see that a panel is 30c/W and 600W, or $180 per panel. So, recycling adds 10% to the cost of the panel, which is not terrible, and can be added to the cost of doing business.

@grantramsay9956

4 ай бұрын

Day 3 of hoping you do a video on fabric ductwork vs sheet metal

@paperburn

4 ай бұрын

I think currently the cost of material (boot strap) is about 10 to 11 dollars average. So a recycle tax just like soda bottles would cover it.@@justthefacts8239

@shumann1605

4 ай бұрын

This is great. Glad to see company find a way. Now like Tesla they need to open source their process and tech for the greater good to quickly lower the cost. The Fed like investing in all the solar and wind projects needs to put forth the same effort in recycling these same materials for solar and turbine blades. I find it counterproductive that the Dept of Energy and the fed are not as generous with our tax dollars in the investment in recycling technologies. At some point in the future, as the price per solar panel drops and recycling becomes the norm, hopefully commercial and consumer building will come with solar or at least be an option for the consumers in building new houses. Great Video Matt.

Finding a way to recycle solar panels is critical in the future, but "reuse" comes before "recycle" in the circular economy. I bought used 66Wh panels in 1999 for an off-grid cabin. When I replaced them last summer, I gave them to a friend to run his water pump. A good, used panel industry would be a good thing, as well. Great presentation BTW.

@alexandruilea915

4 ай бұрын

Exactly, reuse before recycle as long as someone wants it it's not worth it to recycle it as it can still be put to use before it's finally dead.

@davestagner

4 ай бұрын

Modern solar panels should continue to work for well over 50 years (I wouldn’t be surprised at 100 years!). Even if they’re not 100% efficient anymore, they’re producing free energy.

@alexandruilea915

4 ай бұрын

@@davestagner as long as they produce energy, they should be reused for as long as possible. Now if they drop below 100W each then it may become a thing of not worth maintaining them but that means just 20% of the initial power rating for my actual panels so that's a lot of loss which will probably take 50 years as you said.

@Wil_Liam1

4 ай бұрын

There's a plethora of companies out there now who do resell used solar panels at marked down prices below what new panels would cost... Sellers on Ebay,Amazon,and more and more PV installing companies are offering panels that are from 1 year old up to several years old for a fraction of what new panels sell for,and a lot of what I've seen come with a warranty...

@Paul-cj1wb

4 ай бұрын

Correct. Solar panels junking up waste sites is simply more fossil fuel industry misinformation. Most get resold and reused while the rest get recycled for their valuable aluminum and silver.

Recycling is probably the most needed and important technology of all. It shouldn't be a choice. Governments should be subsidizing it and it's great for job creation.

@GreenJimll

4 ай бұрын

Rather than subsidise the recycling, tax the raw material extraction/import. That puts the financial incentive in the right place, and means that innovative business can start in recycling without competing against partially Government funded established firms.

@JayOyster

4 ай бұрын

Honestly, the cost of the panels is becoming one of the lowest cost portions of setting up a PV system. Add that $5 to $15 to the initial panel price and route it to the recycling chain to fund the process.

@TheWebstaff

4 ай бұрын

One man's trash is another man's treasure. One day I will have enough money to buy landfill sites...

@jonevansauthor

4 ай бұрын

@@JayOyster 100% this is not rocket science. Making the machine to deconstruct them, isn't even rocket science. Optimus will do half off that work at some point so I hope Solarcycle's employees have shares in the company.

@jonevansauthor

4 ай бұрын

@@TheWebstaff the first person who does this and employs Optimus bots to sort it into recyclable piles then sells the goods, will make a fortune. They'll probably also find a few murder victims in lots of cities, so hopefully Optimus will get some training at the Body Farm to deal with that bit.

Long term, I'd say the smart money is in designing a cheap to manufacture solar panel that's specifically recyclable. Have the disassembly process baked in to the architecture itself.

@demonz9065

4 ай бұрын

sure but that'd require corporations to think long term, and they pretty consistently struggle with that. also it sounds like some of the reasons they're hard to recycle are based on ways manufacturers make panels last longer. so until we figure out how to maintain panel lifespan without making it harder to recycle it's unlikely anyone is gonna make that a priority. unless theres some immediate incentive provided

@sterlingarcher1962

4 ай бұрын

@@demonz9065 Prior to assuming the role of Director of Product Development, I had worked as a Product Development Engineer for a period of slightly more than ten years. Subsequently, I spent a significant fifteen-year period serving as a Business Consultant in the manufacturing industry before deciding to retire early. Given my extensive background, I respectfully hold a contrasting viewpoint from yours in some parts. Technology continually advances at a projected exponential rate. Consequently, not only will regular updates be necessary, but also the lifespan of panels will decrease more rapidly in the future. In my opinion, an astute business strategy in the solar industry would involve incorporating disassembly or refitting features into the design of the panels. This would be an obvious boost to the entire industry but a huge win for the company that places itself within this circular economy of panels. I am aware that many manufacturing companies, particularly in China, have, as you pointed out, a limited perspective on their operations and direction. This presents an opportunity for implementing a vertically integrated closed loop system for materials and products in this space. Eventually, this will be economically forced anyway with both solar and batteries as well. May as well be the one already doing it. Note: The 4680 was designed in the vein in which I speak with recycling specific features. We don't need everyone to be smart, just a few is fine.

@dufung3980

4 ай бұрын

Or you design one good for 50 years then you relaminate it for it's 2nd life another 30 years..

@sterlingarcher1962

4 ай бұрын

@@dufung3980 exactly like I stated about incorporating disassembly or refitting features.

@renezirkel

4 ай бұрын

@@dufung3980 That is unlikley. That would require the assemble and relaminate process to be similar/identical after 50 years. This almost never happend to any industry. Did that even happen even once in any industry? Its better, easier and cheaper just to have recycable panels and recycle them. So you can reuse the material for whatever you want.

The only problem I had with solar panels was that we couldnt reuse them. Also recently Ive found websites that sells used panels that are within the 80% power gen mark. For 1/4 of the orginal price. They are sold as DIY/ home experiments. It was 65$ for a 200watt Panel, vs the 300$ for a new 200watt panel.

@berndarndt9924

4 ай бұрын

Those DIY prices are overpriced. 65$ for 160watt peak is more than you pay for new panels nowdays. And then you still need to buy material to mount them at home. And in addition to than new panels have a warranty of 15-25 years. Most people are best off with buying them new and then keeping them for 40+ years.

@Justintheinsane

3 ай бұрын

@XinChen-ie2qq that's wholesale price for here in the US. 200watt panels average 140$+. Flexible ones run about 300$

*Here in Alaska we use old solar panels for building Water Proof Roofs and Siding for homes and barns. It's tougher than Plywood!*

@user-to7xm1rz6n

2 ай бұрын

That’s a good idea indeed!

@johnslugger

2 ай бұрын

@@user-to7xm1rz6n Thanks, I wish I could post a photo of our USED solar panel barn! It still makes half the power! I was told that they may put out 50% power for the next 60 years or more. I can't find info on how long it takes before a solar panel goes 100% dead.

@user-to7xm1rz6n

2 ай бұрын

End of life is defined in the panel company charts! And year on year degradation must be around 0.4% - 1%

@johnslugger

2 ай бұрын

@@user-to7xm1rz6n Thanks for the info. I tracked the slow-death of our panels we got in 1999 and what we found is that the more they decayed the slower the decay got. In other words its not linear but a sharp curve that slows down as the panel ages. When we first got the panels I could see a 1.8% drop in the first year and then by year 14 it was only dropping by .6% a year and on year 23 only .4% a year. I plotted the curve and it says in 100 years we will still get 25% of the original power output. But I can't prove it until then,,,,,, LOL.

@user-to7xm1rz6n

2 ай бұрын

That’s an interesting analysis

There are logically a few options I can see in this whole lifecycle: 1. Make solar panels modular, using non-toxic glues and designs such that recycling them is easy. Recyclable by design. 2. Use more solar film based technology so that you reduce glass, aluminium, and glue. 3. As solar panel manufacture increases and inevitably improves iteratively, make them comply to certain minimum global recyclability standards. There will still be non-standard cheaper products manufactured, but if there is a standard, it is easier to mandate in law, reducing the spread of poor design. 4. If the output of solar panels only decreases with time, they can be used for longer periods in "used goods" markets where efficiency isn't important. In this way, the panel can have a second useful life before being recycled for low efficiency use cases. #1 and #4 are mutually exclusive. I mean if you can recycle them well, then who will use them at low efficiency.

@johnhiggs325

4 ай бұрын

#1 and #4 aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. This is especially true while the whole system is being phased in and refined.

@alexandruilea915

4 ай бұрын

People changed their solar panels because of the new ones efficiency not because they were not useful anymore. Like when we looked for our solar panels I've seen a lot of ads by people selling second-hand panels which were brought from Germany probably for free or close to free by this guys. They were selling them for cheaper than the price per W of the new panels because they were more inefficient. For the same space taken I would have gotten only 300W instead of 500W and space had to be considered as we filled our house with solar panels. We went on to buy new panels but we could have gotten the same capacity for 60-70% of the cost if we went with second hand panels if we had the space for it. I'm sure that in the future they will become even cheaper on second hand markets so more and more people will have access to solar panels at a cheaper price.

@ljprep6250

4 ай бұрын

If mfgrs used your thinking on #1, panels wouldn't last 25 years out in the baking sun and freezing rains as they do now. And if they're made smaller and more modular, there will be more possibility of bad connections (plus the cost of all those connectors and the extra labor to install/uninstall them) between the smaller modules. For the most part, panels today are plug and play. You could plug it in in the year 2024 and unplug it and replace it in 2054, with zero maintenance except a hosing down here and there to remove dust. #2 Solar film is entire percentage points lower in efficiency than sliced crystal, and the lifetime is much lower than glassed panels. #3 Global recyclability will add costs to panels as well. #4 If my panels were down 20% by the guaranteed 25 years, I could add a single panel to each string and recoup that loss. But panels are degrading less than that nowadays, so it may take 30 or 40 years to get to that point. I'm all for recycling, but I'd like those costs to be reasonable. And I'd prefer all the methods to not add costs or ANY unreliability to my system in the meantime, thanks. Now that you see more of the downsides, tell us how to incorporate your thinking into the recycle chain while avoiding my pitfalls.

@anandsharma7430

4 ай бұрын

@@ljprep6250 Are you in the solar panel manufacturing industry? In what capacity? I am a layman.

@markbooth3066

4 ай бұрын

It's interesting that the Arizona State research grant seemed to name First Solar as part of the proposal. As one of the three largest solar companies, their interest in a recycling project could indicate a deeper interest in manufacturing for recycling, which is a promising start. Certainly when I was working in this industry, people were only interested in getting the cost below $1/watt. No-one, back in the noughties, was thinking about the recycling of the panels our machines were producing.

I work in Odessa and am excited to see this! I have to correct you though, that's not an oil rig. It's an oil well and that is the pumping unit for the well, commonly called the pump jack

@drylandfisheries2984

4 ай бұрын

Thank you someone who knows. I hate it when people refer to pump jacks as a rig. For those who don't know an oil rig can be a drilling rig that drills the well or a service rig that does maintenance on the well.

@MonkeyJedi99

4 ай бұрын

Well, according to 9-year-old me, it's an oil bird. Pecking at the ground to pull oil out of the dirt.

@garrysekelli6776

3 ай бұрын

An oil extraction thingy? But not the drill itself.

Excellent video Matt. So important for us to be able to reuse these precious materials instead of mining more. I love the idea of a cyclical production chain

@MonkeyJedi99

4 ай бұрын

So many statements of "XYZ cannot be recycled" should have a mandatory addendum of "with current technology, and/or with profit margins making it worthwhile for the big stock-driven corporations to care."

@mekko1413

4 ай бұрын

@@MonkeyJedi99 - I would agree with your statement if it didn't have childish ending. If you had stopped at worthwhile I would agree with you. But because you included this it makes it more of a naive childish statement, because with out those big stock-driven corporations very little of what we have today would exist including this platform spreading this information.

@MonkeyJedi99

4 ай бұрын

@@mekko1413 Ah, go sit on a rake. My "naive, childish" was based on actual facts. Just because a rapaciously greedy corporation provides something you want doesn't make their greed suddenly good.

@herp_derpingson

4 ай бұрын

Or a law mandating specific things that makes it easy to recycle is the obvious solution.

End of life recycling should be embedded in the panels from their construction, for example using glue that can be simply heated up or vaporized to separate the layers

@danmallery9142

4 ай бұрын

100% agree. As long as it can be done without degrading their longevity.

@dufung3980

4 ай бұрын

Do you know how hot solar panels can get?

@Struthio_Camelus

4 ай бұрын

How about using glues that certain microbes consider edible?

@jamestyrer907

4 ай бұрын

They probably use Silicone Rubber.

@christianvanderstap6257

4 ай бұрын

Not just solar panels, but everything basically

Matt, I was thinking a yearly update video on the state of recycling in general would worthwhile. I just watched your video on recycling solar panels and another on recycling lithium batteries from 2 years ago which got me to thinking about changes in battery chemistry/design (again from your past videos), solar panel production and other things that end up in landfills but could be recycled, means changes in how recycling is done too.

The used solar panel market is probably the most efficient way to reduce waste. Millions of panels are being decommissioned simply because they have reduced efficiency since when they were new, but they are still putting out good voltage and amperage and are perfectly usable by off-grid homeowners. They are available on Facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc often for around 30 cents per watt... however making them less expensive would increase availability for them. I'd like to see the companies that install/remove solar panels include a strategy of getting them very cheaply into the hands of people who can reuse them as part of their recycle/ stategy...like 10 cents per watt or less. And then eventually those used panels are going to degrade to the point where they need to be thrown out, at that point they could be recycled... And to assist/encourage those off-grid homeowners to bring near dead panels in to recycle, there could be a 1 new for (5?) used panels trade-in coupon offered.

@5353Jumper

4 ай бұрын

Reduce Reuse Recycle These are in order of priority from most important to least. Recycling is very important, which shows how much more important it is to Reduce and Reuse.

@rvnaut

4 ай бұрын

reuse is a great solution.. .my 1400 watts on my rv roof cost me $423.. right at $.30 a watt... but... there is no money in used... or rather , not enough money... not for "the money" to invest in the resale business.... similar to the auto industry .. they aren't interested in making your car last, they want you to buy a new one.. :)

@HerrNagel

12 күн бұрын

​@@rvnaut In Europe we currently pay around $.16 per watt. For new panels, of course. Sounds crazy, but it's really true. Sure, the panels come from China and there are also offers for $.22 per watt. But the expensive panels aren't much better, there's just a lot of marketing foo being spread around.

Best use of old solar panels currently is to reuse them.

@garrysekelli6776

3 ай бұрын

Like wind turbines and all the greenwashed bs it will all end up in a landfill.

@chinonledum5603

6 күн бұрын

Do you know where I can buy used solar panels?

Really cool stuff. I do wonder how they plan on recycling panels that have been damaged though. It seems like the system they showcased required fully intact panels to begin with. It would be interesting to see what they can do with panels that have been cracked, penetrated or even broken into pieces because, you know that once their junk people aren’t going to take care when removing them or shipping them out for recycling

@carlzhou173

2 ай бұрын

Broken panel will be applicable in new machine now

This is awesome work these guys are doing. I would like to mention that there is an initial problem with how we handle solar panels. End of life for solar panels is usually set at 25 years. But at that point the solar panels still have 87.5% of their original power. These are still very useful panels. I wish I could get some of these panels.

@iderryan

4 ай бұрын

San Tan Solar.

@frequentlycynical642

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, I don't get it. I have a friend that's an application engineer with a very large solar installer. They guarantee 85% after 25 years. They would still be cranking 40% after 100 years. Other than the use and taxes on the ground they sit on, it's all free for many years.

@Reckless-mindfulness

4 ай бұрын

There are multiple facets to consider. I doubt that the cost of recycling materials is genuinely cheaper than mining them when we factor in labor, processing, and transportation expenses. The industry might require regulatory support to ensure profitability, although excessive regulations could potentially hinder the solarization process and impede decarbonization inadvertently. The materials typically recycled are mostly non-toxic and environmentally friendly, akin to sand. Another critical aspect is redirecting attention from recycling concerns to preventing significant entities like corporations, big companies, and governments from discarding functional solar panels simply because they're 'expired' according to a 'used by' sticker on it or the paperwork. This practice poses a more substantial threat, and implementing regulations to discourage 'planned obsolescence' is crucial.

@michaelharmon833

4 ай бұрын

That would be nice.

@nomore6167

4 ай бұрын

@@Reckless-mindfulness "...to preventing significant entities like corporations, big companies, and governments from discarding functional solar panels simply because they're 'expired'..." - I think you'll find a lot of justified opposition from all sides to this ridiculous idea. As you yourself said, there are multiple facets to consider. Why should entities be forced to continue using panels which no longer provide the power they need and will only continue to degrade? Furthermore, who are you (or anyone else) to tell said entity what they can or cannot discard? Lastly, why is it (based on your words) acceptable for small/non-significant entities to "[discard] functional solar panels simply because they're 'expired'", but it's unacceptable for "significant" entities to do the exact same thing? Enticing entities to continue using old panels is one thing; prohibiting them from discarding old panels is another thing entirely.

Matt, thank you for your wonderful research! This as with many of your other videos really brings encouragement from what could have been a gloomy and frightening problem in the future. PS: last March my family became surf shark subscribers thanks to your code! Blessings and Merry Christmas

@bzuidgeest

4 ай бұрын

Poor research you mean. In the EU is by law required to collect 85% of panels sold and recycle 80% of materials. This is a solved problem for most of the world, this company does nothing innovative.

Great video. The more that we can talk about circular economies the better. This is especially applicable to renewable energy such as solar panels.

Honestly, biggest question I was having with regards to viability of solar panels was this: The materials re-use after life of panel is over. Really positive to hear there's a business market being created to help find solutions to this conundrum. Would absolutely love it if panels turn out to be a legit power source that finds some kind of balance with the environment. Our need for power will not slow down any year soon, solutions are vital. And solar is very common folk friendly as far as use goes (electricity bills are killer)

@christianvanderstap6257

4 ай бұрын

I especially like the recycled diesel we can buy.

Legislating for recycling should give the industry the boost it needs.

@DialedN_07

4 ай бұрын

Oh great, more legislation

@colinwiseman

4 ай бұрын

@@DialedN_07 yes, but without it people and businesses are selfish.

@matskarlsson4900

4 ай бұрын

agrre set a recykelfee on them as carbattery in sweden then you get it back when recykling them even 15 dollar is not so mutch of the total cost, even if it is better to bring the recykel cost down witch ity will. In the video I don´t understan why have a person feeding panels and one stacking the panal part one meter away and one lifting the aliminium frame and throw it into the bin those must be very easy to have machinery instead

Thanks for sharing this Matt. These companies are really needed to do this recycling.

There are thousands of industries where getting rid of excess heat is a daily issue... and here is one that needs heat as an expensive component of their process. Might be worth thinking outside the box... and seeing if a partnership could see two plants working side by side to benefit both.

A) I'm curious if reusing the glass panels is viable at all. Crushing the glass is way more flexible in its use as that can be used in lightweight concretes as well as being cast into new glass sheets. But that seems like if the circular model is the goal, then giving them the old glass panels would be more cost effective. I guess some sort of testing would be required to make sure that they meet some sort of standards on strength, transparency, etcetera B) I'd love to see how the Australian system works. If it does yield results, they should look to partner with the manufacturer and get a more microwave sensitive glue.

Nice video but you missed the fundamental information: the $ value of the recycled material. We know everything works if it's economically viable. If the salvaging of a solar panel costs 15-18$ but the value of the material they can sell is < 15-18$ then it's not that good (for now). I'd like to know the dollar value of the material so that we can understand the low threshold we need to reach to make it viable.

@kristopher_rand

4 ай бұрын

Also what I'd like to know. I would presume that manufacturers would be reducing their extraction costs if they utilized recycled material versus newly mined, though I'm unfamiliar with the entire process.

Love this! More such solar panel recycling ♻️ companies are needed.

Thanks, These guys are great for taking on this problem. This is a great example where disassembly (recycling) should be built in to the design.Materials used to laminate could have added materials that could be triggered to break chemical bonds in a disassembly process under specific conditions

By the way. That was not a rig. That was a oil well with a pump jack to lift the oil out of the ground. Nice video!

Awesome story - great coverage. Thanks for the review of this company / technology! Now if only something similar could be done with recycling wind turbines instead of just dumping them in turbine grave yards.

thanks for this kind of video! There is progress in so many topics but the main stream media only focus on catastrophic news...

Excellent content, Matt. Updates twice a year would be really appreciated if your time and budget allows? I am not aware of others doing this elsewhere...

While recycling might be expensive, there will likely be a time and a place when and where it is the only way to get materials. Regardless of the cost, it is still a good idea to figure out how to recycle things once they have outlived their usefulness.

Great episode Matt. We have also found that down under in Australia the Solar panel stockpiles have started, and ewaste recycling is slowly starting to grow. We hope that the circular economy adoption will help design better solar panels for longer use and an improved easier cradle to cradle extraction model… 🙏🏽🌏✌🏽

@jamesmccay8918

4 ай бұрын

Please don't tell me there isn't an Aussie working on this too !?

Hi Matt I really love your channel, you are a KZreadr that doesn’t just read from a screen/script, you really do the research and you know what you’re talking about. Keep it up. 👍💪 I think we should focus on the way we manufacture solar panels, instead of gluing them together, we should use vacuum to suck out the air from solar panels. Then it would be much easier to recycle/repair them. And it would probably be a little more expensive but in the long run it will be much cheaper.

Thank you, Your honest reporting and investment in solar technology is so important to me. I personally have been in the hvac industry since the 70's and like many other people making a living gets in the way of some passion projects. The solar industry has been been crippled from the beginning by "Big Energy". Seeing this recycling facility in the middle of oil fields is probably in some way a pet project for an oil company but at least the recycling process is being addressed. Sorry to sound negative but I remember under President Carter the solar water heater tax credit was introduced then when he was out of office the they raised the tax credit available so high that the installed cost was prohibited. This been an up hill battle with lobbyists the ones holding technology back. Great job.

Are panel producers working on the front end to make recycling easier? Good Work, as usual!

@jonevansauthor

4 ай бұрын

That's a great question. I'm sure they are, but do they do it in conjunction with recyclers and what are they doing?

Would be interested to hear from recyclers about if/how they handle less standard panels. For instance, what if you gave them some Tesla solar glass shingles? And then depending on what they say, figuring out if some of the possibly gimmicky variants are really sustainable. (Entirely possible you touched on this and I missed it).

Neat stuff! Living in a small van going on four years i originally attempted solar electric winter heating. Good though this year I run a Mr Buddy propane heater mainly on pilot light then up the heat with my electric heaters. Works great and the electric heaters save me lots of propane. I accomplish 48 hours of continuous propane heating from a single 5 pound tank.

I have a solar energy business and deal with brand new and used panels. It's wrong to say there's no way to recycle them. There's actually a lot of recycling going on. We repurpose panels under 7-8 years, the rest get recycled just as shown in the video. It's an area I want to go into in the future. If you know what to look for, you'll find one of the major recycler and they actually show their processes too.

When are we going to think about the end of the product's life cycle BEFORE we create a mountain of waste?

@EversonBernardes

4 ай бұрын

When max profitability stops being the main concern behind production i.e. never, under capitalism.

@bigbadallybaby

4 ай бұрын

its exactly the kind of activity governments need to make laws to enforce the reccyling of the product so business will then design easy to recycle products.

This is fantastic to see and an excellent video. Thank you. I hope we see more of these companies grow as recycling must make sense and surely can be profitable..

@UndecidedMF

4 ай бұрын

I hope so too!

Recycling is important as making the product itself easier to be recycled. I wish that was the modus poerandi from now on.

@rklauco

4 ай бұрын

You need to make a decision between recyclability and long-term reliability. Up until now the requirement was only for reliability, only now we are waking up to the other one...

Thanks for the awesome video!! Microwaves lol - I remember 6 years ago our VP R&D and my boss were staying late at work and when no one was around - threw a microwave experiment at 9pm.

I'm surprised they don't use the sun's magnified heat to delaminate the panels.

You dont let the market decide weather they are worth recycling. YOU MAKE IT LAW. The enviroment is worth more than money.

I certainly HOPE SolarCycle will become the norm in the very NEAR future! Thanks again for another wonderful video on solar.

Thank you for being a tech channel that still talks about the negatives of promising tech. Too many are blindly positive or just cover in a neutral manor. We need people that actually cover in a critical manner.

Very interesting. After seeing this, i guess the bigger question is why arent all panels recycled?

@Exolord959

4 ай бұрын

There may not be enough oil rigs where they can build the facilities.

@tott598

4 ай бұрын

The answer to this is usualy money, it all depends on the profit, if its cheaper to mine and process raw resources its better for your wallet to just dump it. Inceasing price of rare elements are good for this in a sense, since it provides demand for new tech to better recycle and develop alternative mining methods like we already see with rare earths. Its always suply and demand, it just gets skewed a bit by the great powers infuelncing the markets, but in the end its a self regulating process.

Would it be possible to reuse the aluminum frame, rather than tearing it apart and reducing it to aluminum bits? Maybe if the panel makers could build panels to make them easier to deconstruct (without making them degrade faster during their service life)?

@rklauco

4 ай бұрын

Might not be worth as much - the frames on newer solar panels are bigger and you would have differences between manufacturers. Keep in mind that some of the panels might be 10+ years old, so there will be more work from re-using them than melting and using for ANYTHING else. Aluminum is used all over the place, so the value for all industries will be better than just single-purpose.

@demonz9065

4 ай бұрын

@@rklauco that's only now though. eventually solar tech will plateu. theyll likely be a few standard sizes pretty much everyone uses.

@GuyIncognito764

4 ай бұрын

I thought we were there with the 2x1m 72 cell panels we'd had for 10 years. Then large format came out and it's all different again. I don't think it's worth the hassle to standardize yet. Maybe in a few decades as you say things mature. @@demonz9065

I love this story...I can breathe again. Keep up the green advancement on the other end of high technologies! Good stuff. CW

Those mixed bags of granulated/powdered solar material could be separated by density using a machine I invented accidentally many years ago, let me explain: There is a process called "winnowing" which is a way to separate wheat from the chaff by tossing it in the air utilizing wind. My machine is similar to "air washing" machine used in desert prospecting, but it is very simple. All it is basically a large gasoline powered blower/vacuum (the one I used was a 10hp insulation vacuum for remediation) You attach a 50-100ft section of what's known as "lay flat" which is a clear ventilation plastic tubing that comes on a roll. It is inflated with air by the vac/blower and becomes a 20" diameter long tube. The end of the tube has an automotive air filter taped on to create backpressure and that is it: That's all it is... Works amazingly well to separate finely granulated and powdered materials by density, you can actually see through the giant tube and everything deposits by density .

@TimeSurfer206

3 ай бұрын

Working on an idea similar to that for wet washing and classification of dirt. I mine cla, but o dang can I use gravels and sand.

Great video. I hope it encourages more people to start recycling companies and help protect the environment. It is great to show positive solutions.

Seems like adding a disposal fee to each panel, like some states do for car tires and car batteries would be a good thing.

@MDP1702

4 ай бұрын

This is essentially what the EU already has done for many years, it completely takes away any incentive to just dump it and it is mandated by law to be recycled.

At the beginning of this vid, you touched on something fundamental about nearly all sectors of our economy - including those to who sustainability is a sincere goal but especially those who it is not - recycling innovations are always playing catch up to manufacturing changes, whether innovations themselves or simple cost-saving measures. It could be tightly integrated composites as in solar cells or packaging (tetra packs come to mind), design for logistics (plastics and other non-biodegradables for product life), or upstream labour efficiency (I'm thinking demoliton and construction waste) that makes it harder to sort and recover usable material downstream. So many things are not labour efficient to disintegrate and thus cost-effectively recyclable because of this.

I think if they can fix this and drive down the costs, we may see a lot of the tech used in other industry like PC market or other electronic recycling. We have so much e-waste and there is so much gold, silver and other metals in these e-waste. I would love to see more industries embrace true recycling and reusing metals. We need even get back to repairing stuff can help cut down on waste. Great Vid Matt!

Great show 👍 awesome to see solar panels recycled ❤

This was great to see. With the rate at which residential PV is growing we need the recycling to step up. I'd love to know if all panel models are equally recyclable as recyclability could well become a purchasing factor for future installs

Matt, I love this. Such a great "magic-like" process. I love your work. Your segways into commercials is bar none the best and smoothest too :-). Thanks again for all your work.

The recycling cost isn't really a problem if it is added on the price from the onset. In the EU recycling PV panels is mandatory and this recycling cost is immediately added into the sale price, at the end of life they are just taken to an assembly point and then shipped to the recycling plants with no reason for people to dump them to save costs.

@jonevansauthor

4 ай бұрын

It does not surprise me that we had this in the EU before we stuck a referendum shotgun in our mouth and pulled the trigger.

This video proves that ad blockers are a must!

Kudos for all companies like this for recycling! We need more of this

Very very cool. Reduce and reuse is still more important overall, but knowing that this is possible is helpful

Recycling batteries seems to be the more urgent environmental issue.

@dosadoodle

4 ай бұрын

It's a good thing that they are frequently already being recycled! They aren't easy to recycle, but a set of companies are willing to pay the cost to extract the high-value materials to fetch a hefty payday.

@MDP1702

4 ай бұрын

That is definitely being worked on, especially regarding the big EV batteries which is expected to become a very big bussiness.

I'm so glad i found this channel. And yes, circularity will be the norm eventually in an ideal future!

Excellent, great to see this happening Worldwide! I hope that SolarCycle continue to grow.

Great Video, we always forget the final part of a product's lifecycle.

Good video. First time that I have seen anyone mention that there is silver in panels AND that solar production may consume all of the world's supply of silver. I was surprised by 2 things though, the amount of labor used to handle the used panels and parts as they came apart and the slow feed in the delaminating machine - definitely 2 areas for improvement.

I believe you need to have these solar panel recycle center strategic locations (distributed and/or centralized) for where the panels are being disposed , such as landfills or solar farms. Also in reasonable locations (for cost effective transportation) where the raw materials can be reused and provided to solar panel manufacturers in the distribution areas for OEMs. Thus you cut not only the cost to recycle but also the cost of reuse and manufacture of solar panels.

Incredible video! Every large city should have one of these companies! We need one here in Phoenix, AZ. First time watcher. Thumbs up! Thank You. Jim

Brilliant, thanks for the update Matt !

As an essential part of the process involves heating the panels to soften the glues binding the layers I wonder if preheating in a " greenhouse" type structure or a bath using black hose to heat the water for free apart from the setup cost ,which would be offset by the reduced ongoing costs during the actual process in terms of energy and speed

I was waiting for you to mention a different angle, adjust the manufactureing process to be more recycle friendly

Dude you just totally opened up my mind to a new avenue I can venture down in solar. I work for a solar distributor, and it’s fun, good money, they take care of us. But I don’t always feel full filled. When I first started it really blew my mind how much opportunity and jobs there are in solar. I might have to get into the solar recycling industry.

Reposting someone’s comment back here! You could use old solar panels to make small construction structures like barns or any temporary structures which is stronger than plywood!

Just a reminder, I'm still curious to see a video from you covering that compact, modular drill rig company, Terra Sonic. I'm excited to learn about how that could/would benefit older homes in the middle of cities and towns where space is at a premium.

What I have the question for is is that the only site for solar panel recycling if that's the case then that may explain why most people think it's not possible to recycle them because there's not enough places to do so?

I work in comercial solar construction, and on the site I am at, the panels don’t have the aluminum frame anymore! Cool video.

Car batteries are charged a recycling fee when purchased in the US and a refund when brought in for recycling. This discourages throwing them in landfills.

Fascinating. Very pleased to hear these are not ending up in landfills.

Thanks for highlighting this.

Recycling any consumer article is good practice. Recycling however is not the only option, repurposing articles is also an option, like using end of life solar panels as roofing material shingles..

Thanks for this informative content! Development of this type of technology is key.

6:27 yes the cost of land fill disposal is estimated to be

Thank you for giving me ammo for Christmas arguments with family about my solar panels

Very cool!!! Great job Matt! Let's hope that this effort grows and succeeds.

Thanks for working hard to show there's recycling happening now!

Great vid Matt and thanks for putting your time and effort into creating it. This is such a great example, and one of many yet to come, of industry built around recycling, or "un-manufacturing" We are amazing at making stuff, but less amazing at un-making it. Imagine the jobs, business, and opportunity boom if we had industry working alongside manufacturers that supplied the raw materials needed from recycling! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Apple are already on this path, and I don't doubt that many opportunities have already risen from that decision...

Ideally the companies that develop/ design/ manufacture solar panels ought to be responsible for recycling them. Design them in a way that they are more affordable to recycle. This goes for plastic manufactures too.

I sincerely hope that they get better at recycling and that manufactures start manufacturing with recycling in mind. Go do the same on the recycling on especially the blades of the wind turbines. Thanks for this.

I suggest working with the panel mfg to use the best adhesive which will offer most efficiently for the recycle processing. example: microwave or sonic de-bonding

As usual, very nice video. An unrelated question: How would you protect your solar system (batteries, inverters, etc) from EMPs?

This is such great news! We must be able to recycle the panels to retrieve the materials for future manufacture. I am so impressed with their innovations and processes. I have had solar for over 25 years so my panels will need to be recycled in the future and I am happy to hear it is now possible.

@Reckless-mindfulness

4 ай бұрын

There are multiple facets to consider. I doubt that the cost of recycling materials is genuinely cheaper than mining them when we factor in labor, processing, and transportation expenses. The industry might require regulatory support to ensure profitability, although excessive regulations could potentially hinder the solarization process and impede decarbonization inadvertently. The materials typically recycled are mostly non-toxic and environmentally friendly, akin to sand. Another critical aspect is redirecting attention from recycling concerns to preventing significant entities like corporations, big companies, and governments from discarding functional solar panels simply because they're 'expired' according to a 'used by' sticker on it or the paperwork. This practice poses a more substantial threat, and implementing regulations to discourage 'planned obsolescence' is crucial.

That factory's location is almost hilarious. I love it!!!

Thanks for the recycling video. That's such great news!

Excellent video Matt. Thanks for all the information.

great video, Matt.10 years from now we'll surely have scaled up!

My father works in an energy company and he told me that they donate the old solar panels to communities around the solar park.

I liked the idea of recycling solar panels I think we some standardization in solar panels manufacturing that we make recycling much easier

It's great to see recycling take hold. There's a lot of comments in here about reuse before recycle, but IMHO that's pretty much a non-starter due to volume, performance delta, and price delta. I just replaced 30 Evergreen 190w panels that were 15 years old with 27 new Canadian Solar 400w panels. These new panels were $200/each & easily perform 2x....but they're really only $140 after the tax credit. Considering that installation and racking cost more than half of total cost when putting in a new roof systems. It would be foolish to skimp on ($ * area)/w for a 15+ yr investment. Realistically what would somebody pay for these old panels? I've seen them on CL for ~$20, but I doubt there's any real takers at scale. The delta is just too much. You'll run out roof area and racking budget first. At this point I think they're more valuable as recycled than reuse. I would suspect that if the solar panel efficiency % gains slow down then reuse will be become more viable, but the combination of tech + incentives are driving the economic bus here.

Making companies responsible for their own waste would really help the cycle. It would lead to changes in manufacturing to make them easier to reuse and repair if waste costs were higher for them

This is a good thing and scaled up it will be worth it to recycle if the panels that are not being recycled could go to fixed locations they could be "mined" in the future.

I use used PV. I got them from a AZ co that swaps out PV farms. They recertify them at a lower wattage. $60 for 250w is awesome. Focus on building quality is key, then the PV can be used 25-40 years.

@dufung3980

4 ай бұрын

If you build a panel right it can be used for 60-200 years.. You relaminate every 50 years and check the soldiers.

@GudasWorld

4 ай бұрын

oh wow. That's how RBE would make every PV. The world's systems are the issue. The profit metric can not provide a sane future. Human health has to be the metric. @@dufung3980