First America, which was among the country鈥檚 first electronics recyclers to accept and process used photovoltaic panels, has seen a steady increase in the volume of PV panels reaching end of life or being replaced by more powerful, more efficient panels, which has led the recycler to further expand its solar panel recycling and resale capabilities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no surprise that businesses that support renewable energy typically do not want to see their used solar panels go into landfills,鈥� said Les Bury, First America鈥檚 president. 鈥淲e strive to help these businesses find environmentally and fiscally sound ways to retire their older PV panels.鈥�
Bury pointed out that First America has the physical footprint 鈥� nearly a million square feet in eight facilities across the United States 鈥� to receive high volumes of electronics, solar panels, batteries and other materials. 鈥淎fter receiving solar panels from our customers, we verify the wattage and condition. PV panels rated above a certain wattage may be suitable for resale.鈥�
Bury said, 鈥淚n most cases, we work with businesses on a combination of resale/reuse and recycling. Once we determine which panels remain viable, we combine our resources with those of our supplier network to complete cleaning, additional testing, packaging and shipping of the saleable panels. Sometimes it is even possible to offer a conditional replacement guarantee on panels meant for resale.鈥� On average, about 30 percent of the panels are reusable.
For the remainder, First America, works in conjunction with its partners to extract silver, aluminum, silicon and copper 鈥� some of the more valuable components in solar panels 鈥� and to recycle the glass, which can replace fine sand and bitumen, so fewer virgin materials are required, especially in resource-intensive construction and manufacturing applications.