Markets & Policy

Is India ready for solar waste mountain?

Opinion is divided over the urgency of addressing the issue. While some developers feel the 25-year lifetime of modules offers plenty of time to prepare an action plan, other industry voices claim Indian-made products don’t last half that long and one recent report pointed out waste is already piling up thanks to defects and faulty installation.
By
Preeti Verma Lal
Solar panel waste is already accumulating in India thanks to production and shipping faults and other problems. | Image: PI Berlin

The numbers are colossal. By 2030, India will have 200,000 tons of solar waste. That’s the equivalent of around 4,400 Boeing 737-800s or 44,000 adult male Asian elephants – 110% of the global population.

Fast forward two decades and, with India set to deploy 2 TW of solar generation capacity in 2050, PV waste will weigh in at 1.8 million tons – almost 10 times more than the 2030 end-of-life panel pile.

For the full story, visit our pv magazine India site.

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