The Startup Turning Old Solar Panels Into New Ones

Episode 49 of The Climate Tech Podcast explores a pressing problem: what happens to solar panels after 25 years. Lucas and Luna dive into the story of SolarCycle, a startup that has developed a process to recover 95% of the value from decommissioned panels, including high-purity silver and silicon. They walk through the scale of the looming waste crisis—by 2050, 78 million tons of panel waste globally—and how SolarCycle's first commercial recycling facility in Texas is already processing 100,000 panels a year. The conversation also touches on economics: recycled silver costs 30% less than mined silver, and the recovered silicon can be reused in new panels at a 40% lower carbon footprint. A specific, numbers-driven look at circularity in solar energy. #SolarCycle #SolarPanelRecycling #CircularEconomy #ClimateTech #RenewableEnergy #SolarWaste #CleanEnergy #Decarbonization #Sustainability #BusinessAndTechnology #Recycling #Texas #SilverRecovery #Silicon #PanelDecommissioning #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ClimateTechPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo