Solar developer Silicon Ranch Corp. signed a solar module recycling agreement with tech-driven solar recycling platform SOLARCYCLE.
As per the agreement, SOLARCYCLE will apply its module recycling approach to Silicon Ranch’s projects across the U.S. Silicon Ranch has over 145 solar power facilities across 15 states in the country. SOLARCYCLE’s recycling model will help recover approximately 95% of the solar panel value, which can be returned to the supply chain for new panel manufacturing.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory research has found that recycling will help meet 25% to 30% of the domestic solar manufacturing requirements for some materials.
The Silicon Ranch-SOLARCYCLE partnership will help provide a domestic supply of certain recycled materials, like glass, silicon, silver, copper and aluminum that can be used in making new solar panels.
“As the long-term owner of every project in our portfolio, we at Silicon Ranch are deeply committed to our relationships and responsibilities in the communities we serve. These responsibilities include end-of-life equipment management,” said Reagan Farr, Silicon Ranch President and CEO. “Embracing this opportunity to pioneer recycling and re-use processes at scale with SOLARCYCLE is a significant step in meeting these responsibilities. This partnership supports our commitments to advance domestic solar manufacturing, a circular solar economy, and economic development opportunities in communities across the country. We encourage others in the industry to join us in this meaningful endeavor.”
Silicon Ranch is applying a Regenerative Energy approach to project design, construction, and land management. The SOLARCYCLE partnership comes at a critical time as the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is expected to accelerate demand for solar energy and a domestic solar supply chain.
“SOLARCYCLE’s team is taking what we learned in the solar, sustainability, and recycling industries and applying it to our tech-driven recycling solutions. We know that scale matters in order to be able to drive costs down and bring quality up,” said Suvi Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of SOLARCYCLE. “We are thrilled that our partnership with Silicon Ranch–an innovative leader in bringing solar to scale sustainably and responsibly–will help us make solar across America fully sustainable.”
