As many of you may know, the PV industry is beginning to experience a massive solid waste problem. According to my sources, as well as sources such as the California DTSC, the CA PUC, NREL, and the U.S. EIA, the U.S. is and/or will soon be experiencing a waste stream of around 15 million modules going to landfill every year (not including all the BOS). In CA, both the PUC and DTSC held webinar meetings over the past 2 weeks to discuss this impending topic (I have summary notes if anyone wants to know what was discussed and what the outcomes were).
As industry professionals, we need to have a candid conversation about sustainability in the renewable energy industry, about the status-quo's linear take-make-use-lose model versus what we need to develop: a circular economy. As such, I am posting on this forum for several reasons: 1. Because this is the only forum of which I know that can reach all of the major solar players in one place. You all are the industry's BEST and are therefore very influential in what you do and what you say, both on and off this forum. 2. If nothing else in this post is on topic, this point certainly is as it brings up a regulatory issue of which many contractors are not fully aware: In California, if a business or individual removes a PV module from service for any reason, that PV module is considered hazardous waste and must be treated as such. (I know this was a topic back in 2002!) Failure to treat used mods as hazardous waste so can incur fines of up to $70k per day per offense. This applies in handling, transport, disposal, AND storage! For those outside of CA, head's up! It may be likely that similar legislation is headed your way. For clarification, if a module is designated to go back into service (which is what we do at Good Sun) the module is not considered waste. If the glass is broken, it is absolutely a waste product. The waste issue is a critical problem that affects us all and it must be addressed. 3. Because all EPC solar professionals that are not engaged in cradle-to-cradle strategy are part of the waste problem. I am not trying to point any fingers here. Certainly I too am part of the problem but I am working to change that (see p.s. note). As industry leaders, we need to develop innovative ways to manage this waste stream, which is why I am attempting to open a dialogue here. We need more than just solar thrift stores. Perhaps forming an unofficial union to force manufacturers to adopt cradle-to-cradle policies (mod take-back)? Until we have a solution, please know that Good Sun is available to accept used mods for reuse (not recycling). We're mostly in California and in the western U.S. but if you look for them, you're likely to find others like us closer to you. Organizations like RecyclePV are focused more on recycling for mods that are not reusable. There are options. So please be responsible and do not throw used mods in the landfill. Thanks for giving me a soapbox for a moment. * Eric A. Stikes *- President & CEO A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit CA Corp. * www.GoodSun.life <http://www.goodsun.life>* +1 (929) 374 - 2009 CA C46 Solar & C10 Electrical Contractor License #968280 NABCEP Solar Installation Professional #PV-041115004511 P.S. I have worked for many different contractors in my 19 year solar career and have been a solar contractor for half of that time. I recently made the decision to give up for-profit contracting work in order to focus on addressing this waste issue by forming a nonprofit that accepts donations of used PV equipment. We repurpose the equipment in two ways: one, we reuse the equipment directly on our low and no-cost PV installs for needy and deserving clients (schools, homeless shelters, orphanages in Africa; you get the idea), and; two, we resell the equipment to raise money for these projects (solar thrift store). There are two ancillary benefits of reselling mods: one, we're selling mods at about a 75% discount from what they cost new (many years ago), making solar affordable for the low and lower middle classes, and; two, we're tracking all sales in an effort to establish a reference data set as a baseline for a reliable secondary PV market. Consider how the used car market impacted the new car market: It did not take sales away from the new market but instead helped the new market to grow much larger and much faster than the new market had grown before the used market was established. There are various reasons why this happens which I will not get into here. Suffice it to say that we hope to help do something similar for the PV industry and vastly increase solar's current ~1.2% U.S. energy generation mix, and hasten the transition to a clean power economy. Yes, we are on an a socio-ecologically-motivated mission.
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
