How a Startup is Trying to Solve Solar Panel Waste Problem

Each photo voltaic panel put in in the present day has a lifespan of about 25 to 30 years. A big share of India’s photo voltaic capability was constructed within the mid-2010s. Meaning the primary wave of panels will start reaching finish of life inside the subsequent decade.

India’s photo voltaic waste stood at roughly 100,000 tons in 2023. By 2030, it’s anticipated to achieve 600,000 tons. By 2047, estimates counsel it might cross 11 million tons. That’s the equal of greater than 1,500 Eiffel Towers made up of glass, silicon, silver, copper, and aluminium, with no structured system to course of it.

At current, most of this waste is dealt with informally or left in open areas. There may be restricted infrastructure for organised recycling or materials restoration. This results in unsafe dealing with practices and the chance of poisonous supplies coming into soil and water methods.

A Disaster Hiding in Plain Sight

The problem with photo voltaic waste is simple to miss. Photo voltaic panels are seen as clear vitality options, but they carry supplies that may grow to be hazardous at finish of life.

Panels include substances akin to lead, cadmium, and selenium. When dismantled with out correct safeguards, these supplies can pose environmental and well being dangers. A lot of this work in the present day is completed by casual staff with out protecting gear or technical coaching. For a lot of, that is day by day publicity at low wages.

The difficulty isn’t just environmental. It is usually financial and social.

There may be additionally a logistics problem. Photo voltaic installations are sometimes situated in distant areas, which makes transportation costly. Standard recycling strategies don’t extract sufficient worth to offset these prices. Because of this, the system doesn’t but work at scale.

Turning Waste Right into a Useful resource

Past Renewables is making an attempt to vary that equation.

The corporate has developed a recycling course of that permits restoration of greater than 95 % of high-value supplies from end-of-life panels. This consists of glass, silicon, silver, copper, and aluminium. Utilizing a mix of thermal, chemical, and mechanical processes, the corporate converts discarded panels into supplies that may be reused in manufacturing.

At a nationwide degree, this has vital implications. Silicon is a key enter in semiconductors. Silver is essential for electronics. Recovered glass might be reused throughout industries. A number of of those supplies are categorized as essential minerals for India.

For a rustic that relies upon closely on imports for these sources, recovering them from home waste might enhance each sustainability and provide safety.

Constructing the Provide Chain

Expertise alone doesn’t remedy the issue. Entry to constant waste streams is equally necessary. Past Renewables has targeted on constructing partnerships throughout the worth chain. It really works with builders, EPC firms, producers, and dismantlers to safe a gentle pipeline of photo voltaic waste. The corporate at the moment has greater than 2,000 metric tonnes of fabric in its pipeline.

That degree of sourcing is a significant sign for a younger firm. The Past Renewables raised its first exterior funding in October 2025. The pre-seed spherical of Rs 5 crore was led by Momentum Capital, with participation from Enterprise Catalysts, IIMA Ventures, Oorjan Cleantech, and Gautam Das.

The corporate has additionally secured early purchaser curiosity for recovered supplies akin to glass and silicon. This means that demand is already forming alongside provide.

By means of help from NSRCEL, Past Renewables has developed its technique for scale, with a deal with eco-effective high-value recycling. 

The Coverage Push

Regulation is starting to evolve. Photo voltaic panels have now been included beneath up to date e-waste administration guidelines. The Ministry of New and Renewable Power has additionally recognized photo voltaic recycling as a precedence space.

Nonetheless, coverage alone isn’t sufficient. Infrastructure must comply with. Estimates counsel India would require lots of of recycling hubs and vital funding over the subsequent twenty years to handle photo voltaic waste at scale.

That ecosystem remains to be in its early levels. A small group of startups is starting to construct it from the bottom up.

Rethinking the Power Transition

India’s renewable vitality journey has largely targeted on capability addition. The subsequent part would require equal consideration to lifecycle administration.

Past Renewables is a part of a broader shift in the direction of round considering in clear vitality. The concept is straightforward. A sustainable transition ought to account for each how vitality is generated and what occurs when belongings attain finish of life.

Manhar Dixit says India has a possibility to construct sustainability into the whole lifecycle of photo voltaic infrastructure.

That perspective is changing into more and more necessary. Scaling clear vitality with out addressing waste might create a brand new environmental burden. Constructing round methods alongside renewable capability can stop that consequence.

The panels being put in throughout India in the present day characterize long-term investments. Guaranteeing that they return to the economic system as usable supplies on the finish of their life is what is going to make the transition actually sustainable.