Solar recycling company Solarcycle says it is on track to install capacity to recycle 1 million solar panels annually by the end of 2023 and open a vertically integrated, advanced recycling factory in Odessa, Texas, with capability to process millions of solar panels annually in 2024 after having raised $30 million funding round, led by asset manager Fifth Wall.
With former CEO of Solaria Corporation, a US based premium module producer, Suvi Sharma among its founders, Solarcycle says it has developed proprietary technology to cost-effectively return more than 95% of valuable materials used in panels as aluminum, glass, copper, silver and silicon back into the solar value chain.
It struck a chord with the investors of the new funding round as Managing Director of Prologis Ventures Will O'Donnell stated, "We like that they are making solar energy even more sustainable, given their ability to extract 95% of the material from a panel and return them to the supply chain to make new solar panels."
"This Series A funding will allow us to further advance our patented technology, grow partnerships with industry leaders, and rapidly build recycling infrastructure in the United States and beyond to mine old solar panels for making new solar panels," said Sharma.
Apart from Fifth Wall and Prologis Ventures, other contributers to Solarcycle's new funding round are HG Ventures, Urban Innovation Fund and Closed Loop Partners as well as Special Situations Partner Alok Sindher.
The Series A funding round follows $6.6 million it raised in 2022 from SolarCity fame Rive Brothers and ex-CEO and CTO of SunPower Corporation Tom Dinwoodie. It says this brings its total funding to date to $37 million (see Solarcycle Raises $6.6 Million In Growth Funding).
Rystad Energy estimates solar PV waste to swell to 27 million tons/year by 2040 and that solar PV recycling will account for 6% of investments increasing from 0.08% now as demand for solar grows (see PV Recycling Market Worth $80 Billion By 2050).
Global solar PV industry is increasingly waking up to the challenge of managing massive volumes of solar panels that are expected to end up in landfills. Recycling these is one big way for the industry to be sustainable while efforts are also being made at the manufacturing level itself so that the industry can bring down its carbon footprint and become truly sustainable.
TaiyangNews is hosting a Solar & Sustainability Virtual Conference on March 30, 2023 with stakeholders from across the solar spectrum to discuss the solar sustainability subject in detail, including a presentation on solar module recycling. Checke the agenda and join us by registering for free here.