The Recycling program
Waste Reduction: Recycling prevents solar panels and batteries from ending up in landfills, reducing hazardous waste and environmental contamination.
Pollution Prevention: Proper recycling mitigates the release of toxic substances, such as lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals, that can leach into soil and water sources, posing health risks to humans and wildlife.
Material Recovery: Recycling recovers valuable materials like silicon, silver, lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, which can be reused in manufacturing new solar panels and batteries.
Resource Preservation: By reclaiming these materials, recycling reduces the demand for virgin raw materials, conserving natural resources and reducing the environmental impact of mining and extraction processes.
Cost Savings: Recycled materials can reduce the production costs for new solar panels and batteries, making renewable energy solutions more affordable.
Job Creation: Developing a robust recycling industry can create new jobs in recycling facilities, research, and development of advanced recycling technologies.
Energy Savings: Recycling materials typically requires less energy compared to extracting and processing raw materials. This reduces the overall energy consumption and associated carbon emissions of manufacturing processes.
Energy Savings: Recycling materials typically requires less energy compared to extracting and processing raw materials. This reduces the overall energy consumption and associated carbon emissions of manufacturing processes.
Innovation: The challenges of recycling complex products like solar panels and batteries drive technological innovations and improvements in recycling methods, which can be applied to other industries as well.
Material Science: Advances in material science from recycling research can lead to the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly solar panels and batteries.
Toxic Waste Management: Proper recycling practices ensure that toxic substances are safely managed, reducing the risk of exposure to harmful chemicals for workers and communities.
Sustainable Energy Transition: By addressing the disposal challenges of renewable energy technologies, recycling helps ensure that the transition to sustainable energy sources is environmentally and socially responsible.
Use Designated Drop-Off Points: Consumers should take used solar panels and batteries to designated recycling centers or collection points. Many manufacturers, retailers, and local governments provide information about where to recycle these items. For batteries, most retailers are bound-by-law to take-in used up lead acid or lithium battery packs when the consumer wants to buy a new one. Cash incentives are also provided to the consumers on the purchase of new batteries/battery packs, in exchange of a discarded one.
Follow Local Regulations: Be aware of and comply with local regulations and guidelines for the disposal and recycling of electronic waste.
Participate in Take-Back Programs: Many manufacturers have take-back or EPR programs where they collect and recycle their products at the end of their life cycle. Consumers should participate in these programs by returning their used solar panels, batteries and inverters to the manufacturer.
Stay Informed: Educate yourselves about the importance of recycling and the specific procedures for recycling these materials.
Spread Awareness: Encourage friends, family, and community members to recycle their solar panels and batteries by sharing information and resources.
Buy Recyclable Products: Choose products from manufacturers who offer recycling programs and use recyclable materials.
Support Eco-Friendly Brands: Support companies that prioritize sustainability and have robust recycling programs in place.
Proper Use: Use and maintain these devices according to the manufacturer’s guidelines to extend their lifespan, reducing the frequency of disposal. Lead acid batteries, most of which come with a warranty, can last for 7-8 years. With proper care - timely water top-ups, frequent terminal cleaning and proper charging, most lead acid batteries can last 7-8 years with only marginal decline in their efficiencies. Solar Panels are mostly warranted to last for as long as 25 years, with most panels having a performance guarantee of ~80% of the rated capacity at the end of 25 years. Some manufacturers are producing panels that can perform at their 80% of the initial rated capacity even after 27 years.
Repair and Reuse: Whenever possible, repair instead of replacing. Reusing components can significantly reduce waste.
Community Programs: Get involved with local e-waste recycling drives or environmental initiatives that promote the recycling of electronic waste.
Advocacy: Advocate for better recycling facilities and policies in their communities.
Donate Usable Items: If the solar panels, batteries, inverters, etc. are still in good working condition, consider donating them to schools, non-profits, or community projects that can use them.
Store Properly: If immediate recycling is not available, store used solar panels, batteries, inverters and other such equipment safely to prevent environmental contamination or safety hazards until they can be properly recycled.
About Old inverters/batteries/panels: Whenever we get into a new project, we always check with the consumer - whether they already have an existing inverter and batteries. If they do, and they wish to upgrade to a newer and higher capacity system, we offer to take back the exiting ones - of course for some incentives that we offer to the consumer. The consumers can choose to donate their old usable hardware that we intend to further donate to deprived and needy sections of the society.
As part of our giving-back program, we have initiatives in pipeline to give ack to the deprived sections of the society. We are working up to coordinate with NGO's, community projects that can avail benefits out of usable Solar Panels, batteries, inverters and other such components that can be utilized, for example - to bring power to a remote village in Nagaland, or snow-clad Jammu & Kashmir, or a poor farmer in Bihar, or Odisha, or a remote primary school in the deserts of Rajasthan.