Nearly 5 million US solar panels could hit retirement by 2030, creating a strategic materials supply

Nearly 5 million US solar panels could hit retirement by 2030, creating a strategic materials supply

Alongside solar's rapid buildout, the industry is confronting a different issue: how to handle the growing number of panels that will eventually be removed from rooftops and large solar sites. Instead of being treated only as waste, retired panels could provide domestic supplies of silicon, silver, glass, copper, and aluminum, PV Magazine reported. Here's what to know The International Energy Agency projects that in 2030, about 50,000 tons of cr…