SOLARCYCLE has opened its solar PV recycling factory in Cedartown, Georgia, with a full processing capacity of 5 GW of panels/year
The facility is already handling thousands of panels weekly and aims to ramp up to about 1 million panels annually by the end of 2026
The recycling plant is located next to its planned 5 GW solar glass factory, which will use recycled glass from end-of-life panels
Construction of the glass factory is set for mid-2026, with commercial operations targeted for 2028; over 80% of its capacity is already backed by customer commitments
US-based solar PV recycler SOLARCYCLE has officially opened its module recycling factory in Cedartown, Georgia. At full capacity, it can process up to 5 GW worth of solar panels annually.
The Cedartown fab is currently processing thousands of solar panels per week, the company said, targeting a ramp-up toward 1 million panels annually by year-end 2026.
The fab deploys SOLARCYCLE’s proprietary next-generation advanced recycling technology that delivers ‘more than double’ the throughput of its 1st generation recycling lines. It recovers 96% of the value from silver, copper, aluminum, glass, and other critical minerals.
Spread across 255,000 sq. ft., the recycling fab is located adjacent to SOLARCYCLE’s planned 5 GW solar glass factory. The glass factory will produce solar glass using recovered and recycled glass from the recycling fab. It will be the first factory in the world to use recycled glass cullet from end-of-life solar panels as a key input, claims the recycler.
Construction of the glass fab is scheduled to begin in mid-2026, with commercial operations planned to launch in 2028.
SOLARCYCLE management says it has secured customer commitments for over 80% of the glass fab’s total planned capacity. In August 2025, Illuminate USA signed a 5-year agreement to purchase domestically manufactured solar glass from SOLARCYCLE to support the production of 3 GW of solar panels annually, becoming its largest customer.
Despite policy headwinds, SOLARCYCLE sees sustained growth for solar in the country. The US Energy Information Administration forecasts as much as 70 GW of new solar generation capacity additions in 2026 and 2027, which will be a 49% increase over its operational capacity at the end of 2025 (see EIA Sees 69 GW Of New Solar Installations In 2026 & 2027).
“The next phase of our growth is all about bringing solar recycling to industrial scale and delivering winning economics for our customers so the industry can keep high volumes of critical materials in domestic supply chains as solar deployment continues to accelerate,” said SOLARCYCLE CEO and Co-Founder Suvi Sharma.
