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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
“…processed nearly 500,000 panels, and is on track to recycle 1 million panels by the end of 2025” It’s only recently that we’ve even had enough old panels to set up a recycling facility. You can make a new 400 watt solar panel with the silicon from an old 50 watt solar panel.
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Advanced Power Alliance ⚡️
@APowerAlliance
#APAMember @RWEamerica is teaming up with @SOLARCYCLEUS to recycle decommissioned solar panels from its U.S. projects—recovering up to 95% of critical materials like silver, silicon, copper, and aluminum for reuse in the domestic supply chain - bit.ly/4j4pQyo The
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David Watson 🥑
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Dalton Kasinger
@DaltonKasinger
Isn’t it slightly more complicated than this? The purity of cells from 20 years ago is something like 99.9% while current tech is 99.999%. I’ve made these up, but purity matters. It’s not a one for one cell swap. That said, I’m all for recycling. More and better panels is better.
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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
Reduced silicon is refined via the Siemens process. Recycling cuts out the carbothermal reduction of silica to silicon.
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Caleb
@challwre
This is incredible. Huge opportunity for those in the recycling business. Do you think this opportunity could work for smaller entrants or will this be for a few big guys only?
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Neil Bolton
@NeilBoltonRSPL
“You can make a new 400 watt solar panel with the silicon from an old 50 watt solar panel.” Physically possible, not economically so. One day maybe. We have lots of old panels on Oz, but most are still producing electricity - if it ain’t broke etc. But we’re doing a lot of
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AbdurrahmanPantamiJr
@real_avdulmouhd
This isn’t just recycling; it’s reverse-engineering the sun’s legacy. Turning 50W history into 400W of future energy is proof that circular tech isn’t a dream, it’s a design principle.
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Serge Abrosimov
@AbrosimovSerge
pretty cool seeing this getting bigger every year tbh - you ever wonder if recycling like this really changes how we get our stuff, or does it just feel good on paper?
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