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California's Rooftop Solar Push Is Now A Big Problem For The Environment

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  • Exactly what materials in solar panels are unable to be recycled? They are basically just silicon wafers. That's glass/sand. Just melt it like we do bottles. The frames are aluminum, which is regularly recycled. Any wires can be recycled too.


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    • Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
      At this point, for California, about the only option available seems to be a "buy back" program. Kinda like when we returned pop bottles for pocket change.
      Exactly. The amount has to be just enough so that it makes more sense to turn the panels in to a recycling center than to dump them in the trash. (Though it wouldn't hurt to also have laws against dumping them in the trash.)

      (but, then again, it might cause theft of solar panels for cash )
      It wouldn't really be worth anyone's while to climb up onto a roof and disconnect panels in order to turn them in for an amount that's just enough to keep them from being thrown in the trash.

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      • Originally posted by Sparko View Post
        Exactly what materials in solar panels are unable to be recycled? They are basically just silicon wafers. That's glass/sand. Just melt it like we do bottles. The frames are aluminum, which is regularly recycled. Any wires can be recycled too.
        The article linked in the OP gives a pretty good idea of the difficulties of recycling solar panels.

        Not that those difficulties are insurmountable, but the cost of recycling the panels is greater than the value of the materials that can be recovered.

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