UNSW SPREE 202407-12 Rong Deng - Solar Panel End-of-life Management in Australia

UNSW School of Photovoltaic & Renewable Energy Engineering
Solar Panel End-of-life Management in Australia
Rong Deng
UNSW SPREE
12 July 2024
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ABSTRACT
End-of-life management is becoming an increasingly important consideration in the solar industry.
Australia has committed to reducing its CO2 emissions by 43% by 2030 compared to 2005, then to reach net zero emissions by 2050. A significant uptake of solar photovoltaics (PV) will play a vital role in achieving this target. However, this brings the challenge of managing the millions of tons of solar panel waste at the end of the 25-year lifetime. This scoping study, Solar Panel End-of-Life Management in Australia, provides an in-depth analysis of the current PV recycling landscape, market opportunity, best practice and most cost-effective strategies to manage solar panels end of life in Australia.
The cumulative volume of end-of-life solar panels in Australia is expected to reach 1 million tonnes by 2035, and the total material value from end-of-life solar panels is projected to surpass $1 billion. As a result, establishing domestic PV waste management facilities in Australia presents an opportunity for resource recovery. Recycling offers a gateway to reducing landfills, enhancing circular economy initiative, and creating jobs.
BRIEF BIO
Dr Rong Deng completed her Bachelor and PhD in Photovoltaic Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Currently, she is a research fellow and lecturer at UNSW, leading all PV end-of-life and recycling research and knowledge-sharing activities within ACAP (Australia Centre of Advanced Photovoltaics). Rong is also the Australian Lead on International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power System (IEA PVPS) Task 12 PV sustainability and director of APVI (Australia PV Insititute).
She is an expert on solar panel recycling. Her recent report, Scoping Study: Solar Panel End-Of-Life Management In Australia, provides an in-depth analysis of the current PV recycling landscape, market opportunities, best practice and most cost-effective strategies to manage solar panels end of life in Australia. This report has garnered significant attention in the press, highlighting the imminent challenge of discarded solar panels.

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I am concerned that no one, anywhere in the world, is calculating the fact that increasing climate disasters such as large hail, hurricane force winds, etc. are the main threats to the weak PV panel box/packaging (thin glasses and frames) that protects the active PV cells. What do we do when it turns out that the risk of a massive loss of PV power is increasing? Are we going to start burning coal, gas, and oil again to meet a demand for electricity, and that all consumers have already switched to electric energy, and multiply the disasters because of one small miscalculation? Do you think that the current design of PV panels will be adequate in 5-10-15 years?