A second life for solar panels?

A Silicon Valley group is warning solar panel manufacturers to heed lessons learned by the electronics industry and create recycling plans now, rather than waiting until panels reach obsolescence.

A January 2009 report by the San Jose-based Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) includes a recommendation that the solar industry implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) measures, which would require manufacturers to take responsibility for the impacts of recycling their products. EPRs such as a manufacturer take-backs would drive development of recycling technologies while also encouraging producers to create more easily recycled products, the report says.

Monique Hanis, a spokesperson for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), says the organization agrees with the report's recommendations, and that the relatively young solar industry has an “opportunity now to put procedures in place to recapture and reclaim materials.”

"It makes good business sense and is good for the environment," Hanis says.

Some solar companies, including industry heavyweight First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), have already launched recycling programs for their PV panels. The Tempe, Ariz.-based company says its program allows almost all panel components, including glass and semiconductor materials, to be processed into new products. The company pays for the program by setting aside funds from the sale of each module through an insurance company.

While the report says solar panels, which have a life span of about 25 years, could leave a "toxic legacy" if they aren't recycled responsibly, it also suggests there are opportunities to be had in solar panel recycling, including recovering valuable rare metals such as tellurium and indium from discarded units. Panels, which contain some of the same toxic components of electronic waste, could also potentially be harvested by e-waste recyclers.