Extending the lifecycle of photo voltaic panels by nationwide certification and reuse
by Simon Mansfield
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 07, 2025
Australia’s world-leading adoption of rooftop photo voltaic vitality has a hidden problem: tens of millions of growing old photovoltaic (PV) panels heading for landfill. Researchers on the College of South Australia (UniSA) are actually charting a path to show this waste into alternative, exhibiting how extending the lifespan of panels can profit each the setting and the financial system.
Led by PhD scholar Ishika Chhillar, the UniSA examine highlights technical, regulatory, and financial hurdles that at present forestall large-scale reuse of photo voltaic panels. Australia’s put in methods, usually lasting 20-30 years, are sometimes changed earlier, and the Australian Power Council expects end-of-life panels to whole 280,000 tonnes by yr’s finish.
Chhillar’s analysis requires a nationwide strategy to certification, testing, and reuse, arguing that recycling alone can’t clear up the problem. “The massive-scale reuse of PV panels faces technical, financial and regulatory limitations,” she explains. “The low value of recent panels undercuts resale, and inconsistent insurance policies throughout states deter companies from dealing with used panels.”
She says the absence of a nationwide reuse framework or certification commonplace fuels uncertainty amongst installers and consumers. “At the moment, the shortage of any commonplace certification for used panels means consumers and installers have little to depend on in addition to a vendor’s phrase, however an official certification course of would change that,” Chhillar notes.
Her workforce proposes a grading system – resembling gold, silver, or bronze – to fee remaining effectivity and lifespan, backed by standardized testing and certification. This is able to enable customers to make knowledgeable choices and encourage confidence within the secondary market.
Affiliate Professor Sukhbir Sandhu, who research sustainability and social innovation, provides that digital monitoring might additional assist reuse efforts. “If every photo voltaic panel’s historical past and efficiency knowledge may very well be recorded in a database accessible to consumers and regulators, it might dramatically cut back uncertainty,” she says.
Such digital traceability, presumably by way of blockchain or QR-coded “digital passports,” might assist panels retain worth by a number of lifecycles, reducing waste whereas maximizing funding in clear vitality infrastructure.
“By embracing a structured strategy to the repurposing of photo voltaic panels, the renewable vitality sector can considerably prolong the lifecycle of those assets, contributing to a extra sustainable, environment friendly and round financial system,” Sandhu concludes.
Analysis Report:Certification for Solar Panel Reuse: A Systematic Review of Cross-Sector Practices and Gaps
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