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 older 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, displaying how extending the lifespan of panels can profit each the surroundings and the economic system.
Led by PhD scholar Ishika Chhillar, the UniSA examine highlights technical, regulatory, and financial hurdles that presently stop large-scale reuse of photo voltaic panels. Australia’s put in programs, sometimes lasting 20-30 years, are sometimes changed earlier, and the Australian Vitality Council expects end-of-life panels to whole 280,000 tonnes by 12 months’s finish.
Chhillar’s analysis requires a nationwide method to certification, testing, and reuse, arguing that recycling alone can not remedy the problem. “The big-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 patrons. “At present, the dearth of any commonplace certification for used panels means patrons and installers have little to depend on apart from a vendor’s phrase, however an official certification course of would change that,” Chhillar notes.
Her group proposes a grading system – comparable to gold, silver, or bronze – to fee remaining effectivity and lifespan, backed by standardized testing and certification. This might enable customers to make knowledgeable selections and encourage confidence within the secondary market.
Affiliate Professor Sukhbir Sandhu, who research sustainability and social innovation, provides that digital monitoring might additional help reuse efforts. “If every photo voltaic panel’s historical past and efficiency information might be recorded in a database accessible to patrons and regulators, it might dramatically cut back uncertainty,” she says.
Such digital traceability, probably 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 method to the repurposing of photo voltaic panels, the renewable vitality sector can considerably prolong the lifecycle of those sources, contributing to a extra sustainable, environment friendly and round economic system,” Sandhu concludes.
Analysis Report:Certification for Solar Panel Reuse: A Systematic Review of Cross-Sector Practices and Gaps
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