SolarPower Europe launches milestone End-of-Life Best Practice Report

• SolarPower Europe has launched the first-of-its kind ‘End-of-Life Management: Best Practice Guidelines,’ to provide a complete overview for handling end-of-life solar panels.
• This report is an industry-leading set of recommendations, on how to boost the sustainability of solar.

Barcelona, SPAIN (Tuesday, 23rd January 2024): SolarPower Europe’s new report offers recommendations on how to sustainably handle end-of-life (EoL) solar panels, and outlines how solar companies can comply with mandatory requirements. The pioneering guidelines also aim to ensure that solar is making a valuable contribution to the EU’s circularity objectives. 

With solar growth rising, it is important to responsibly manage solar panels at the end of their lifetime. Guaranteeing high-quality EoL solar management is crucial for the sustainability of the industry, and public support for solar.

These guidelines provide a comprehensive overview of how to handle the key components of a solar system once they have reached the end of their lifespan, including their decommissioning and replacement. This is normally around 30 years, but notably, the paper presents recommendations on how to assess the potential for a ‘second life,’ or extension of a solar system’s lifespan. The report also outlines the key European legislation governing waste management, and management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), related to the EoL of solar components.

Within this report, over 30 experts of SolarPower Europe’s Lifecycle Quality Workstream, have illustrated their knowledge and experience from across the solar sector, coming from Operation & Maintenance (O&M), recycling and circularity, waste management, utility-scale solar, and manufacturing backgrounds.

The ‘End-of-Life Management: Best Practice Guidelines,’ were launched during the first day of our annual Solar Quality Summit Europe event, co-organised with Intersolar. Solar Quality Summit Europe brings together leading members of the O&M, Asset Management, and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) communities, to advance the long-term quality of Europe’s solar projects. 

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