Workshop Report Solar Panel Waste Workshop at the Century City Conference Centre – 5 th March 2019

This report details a workshop held on March 5, 2019, at the Century City Conference Centre, organized by GreenCape, Inspired Evolution, and SAPVIA. The event brought together 39 delegates from industry, government, and academia to address the emerging challenge of end-of-life (EOL) solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on legislative barriers, technical recycling solutions, and logistical strategies to prevent landfilling.

• Solar panels are classified as hazardous waste in South Africa and are scheduled to be banned from landfill disposal starting in August 2021, as per the National Norms and Standards for Disposal of Waste to Landfill (GN.R. 636, August 2013).
• The composition of PV panels varies, with 95% being silicon-based and 5% containing hazardous heavy metals such as Copper indium gallium selenide or Cadmium telluride. In terms of weight, PV cells account for only 4% of a panel, while the remainder consists of glass and casing.
• While current solar panel waste primarily stems from transit, installation damages, and obsolescence, a significant increase in waste from aged panels is expected within five years, as panels typically have a lifespan of 20 to 50 years and have been used in South Africa for 15 to 20 years.
• Recycling PV cells is significantly more energy-efficient than using virgin raw materials, requiring only 20-30% of the energy. Due to the scarcity of tellurium, cells containing Cadmium telluride are highly valued and often exported back to manufacturers.
• Current local processing capabilities in South Africa, such as those provided by Reclite in Gauteng, involve dismantling frames for metal recovery and mechanically delaminating PV cells from glass. However, a dedicated solution for the PV cells themselves is still required, and users must cover logistics and processing costs.
• Legislative and operational barriers to local recycling include prohibitive licensing requirements for facilities receiving more than 30 tonnes per month and a lack of a nationwide registration system to trace panels. Proposed solutions include the use of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), such as the Atlantis Cleantech SEZ, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.
• Workshop participants debated between centralized and local treatment solutions. Centralized solutions offer economies of scale and easier regulation, while local solutions could reduce logistics costs, lower the carbon footprint, and increase local economic development (LED). It was noted that 60% of existing utility-scale facilities are in the Northern Cape.
• The group advocated for a waste management hierarchy prioritizing prevention, reuse, and repair before recycling. To improve accountability, they suggested implementing traceability via serial numbers or embedded chips, and potentially a deposit and refund system.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Workshop Report Solar Panel Waste Workshop at the Century City Conference Centre – 5 th March 2019. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Solar-Panel-Waste-Workshop-Report-5Mar2020-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Workshop Report Solar Panel Waste Workshop at the Century City Conference Centre – 5 th March 2019. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Solar-Panel-Waste-Workshop-Report-5Mar2020-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Workshop Report Solar Panel Waste Workshop at the Century City Conference Centre – 5 th March 2019 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Solar-Panel-Waste-Workshop-Report-5Mar2020-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendworkshop, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Workshop Report Solar Panel Waste Workshop at the Century City Conference Centre – 5 th March 2019}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Solar-Panel-Waste-Workshop-Report-5Mar2020-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }