Solarcycle CTO Pablo Dias and COO Rob Vinje show a solar panel laminate after it’s been cleanly separated from the glass to investors and partners. The laminate is where most of the value is contained in a panel, like silver, silicon, and copper.
Solarcycle
The growing importance of wind and solar energy to the U.S. power grid, and the rise of electric vehicles, are all key to the nation’s growing need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, lower carbon emissions and mitigate climate change.
But at the same time, these burgeoning renewable energy industries will soon generate tons of waste as millions of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind turbines and lithium-ion EV batteries reach the end of their respective lifecycles.
As the saying goes, though, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Anticipating the pileup of exhausted clean-energy components — and wanting to proactively avoid past sins committed by not responsibly cleaning up after decommissioned coal mines, oil wells and power plants — a number of innovative startups are striving to create a sustainable, and lucrative, circular economy to recover, recycle and reuse the core components of climate tech innovation.
Wind and solar energy combined to generate 13.6% of utility-scale electricity last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), and those numbers will undoubtedly rise as renewable energy continues to scale up. Some leading utilities across the nation are far ahead of that pace already.
Meanwhile, sales of all-electric vehicles rose to 5.8% of the total 13.8 million vehicles Americans purchased in 2022, up from 3.2% in 2021. And with the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly proposed tailpipe emissions limits and power plant rules, EV sales could capture a 67% market share by 2032 and more utilities be forced to accelerate their power generation transition.
Solarcycle is a prime example of the companies looking to solve this climate tech waste problem of the future. Launched last year in Oakland, California, it has since constructed a recycling facility in Odessa, Texas, where it extracts 95% of the materials from end-of-life solar panels and reintroduces them into the supply chain. It sells recovered silver and copper on commodity markets and glass, silicon and aluminum to panel manufacturers and solar farm operators.
“Solar is becoming the dominant form of power generation,” Solarcycle CEO Suvi Sharma said, citing an EIA report stating that 54% of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in the U.S. this year will come from solar. “But with that comes a new set of challenges and opportunities. We have done a phenomenal job making solar efficient and cost-effective, but really have not done anything yet on making it circular and dealing with the end-of-life [panels].”
Keeping solar panels out of landfills
The average lifespan of a solar panel is about 25 to 30 years, and there are more than 500 million already installed across the country, Sharma said, ranging from a dozen on a residential home’s rooftop to thousands in a commercial solar farm. With solar capacity now rising an average of 21% annually, tens of millions more panels will be going up — and coming down. Between 2030 and 2060, roughly 9.8 million metric tons of solar panel waste are expected to accumulate, according to a 2019 study published in Renewable Energy.
Currently, about 90% of end-of-life or defective solar panels end up in landfills, largely because it costs far less to dump them than to recycle them. “We see that gap closing over the next five to 10 years significantly,” Sharma said, “through a combination of recycling becoming more cost-effective and landfilling costs only increasing.”
Indeed, the market for recycled solar panel materials is expected to grow exponentially over the next several years. A report by research firm Rystad Energy stated they’ll be worth more than $2.7 billion in 2030, up from only $170 million last year, and accelerate to around $80 billion by 2050. The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Laboratory (NREL) found that with modest government support, recycled materials can meet 30%-50% of solar manufacturing needs in the U.S. by 2040.
Both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provide tax credits and funding for domestic manufacturing of solar panels and components, as well as research into new solar technologies. Those provisions are intended to cut into China’s dominant position in the global solar panel supply chain, which exceeds 80% today, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency.
One recipient of this federal funding is First Solar, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the U.S. Founded in 1999 in Tempe, Arizona, the company has production facilities in Ohio and another under construction in Alabama. It has been awarded $7.3 million in research funds to develop a new residential rooftop panel that is more efficient than current silicon or thin-film modules.
First Solar has maintained an in-house recycling program since 2005, according to an email from chief product officer Pat Buehler. “We recognized that integrating circularity into our operations was necessary to scale the business in a sustainable way,” he wrote. But rather than extracting metals and glass from retired panels and manufacturing scrap, “our recycling process provides closed-loop semiconductor recovery for use in new modules,” he added.
Massive wind turbines, blades are almost all recyclable
Retired wind turbines present another recycling challenge, as well as business opportunities. The U.S. wind energy industry started erecting turbines in the early 1980s and has been steadily growing since. The American Clean Power Association estimates that today there are nearly 72,000 utility-scale turbines installed nationwide — all but seven of them land-based — generating 10.2% of the country’s electricity.
Although the industry stalled over the past two years, due to supply chain snags, inflation and rising costs, turbine manufacturers and wind farm developers are optimistic that the tide has turned, especially given the subsidies and tax credits for green energy projects in the IRA and the Biden administration’s pledge to jumpstart the nascent offshore wind sector.
The lifespan of a wind turbine is around 20 years, and most decommissioned ones have joined retired solar panels in landfills. However, practically everything comprising a turbine is recyclable, from the steel tower to the composite blades, typically 170 feet long, though the latest models exceed 350 feet.
Between 3,000 and 9,000 blades will be retired each year for the next five years in the U.S., and then the number will increase to between 10,000 and 20,000 until 2040, according to a 2021 study by NREL. By 2050, 235,000 blades will be decommissioned, translating to a cumulative mass of 2.2 million metric tons — or more than 60,627 fully loaded tractor trailers.
How the circular renewable energy economy works
Players in the circular economy are determined not to let all that waste go to waste.
Knoxville-based Carbon Rivers, founded in 2019, has developed technology to shred not only turbine blades but also discarded composite materials from the automotive, construction and marine industries and convert them through a pyrolysis process into reclaimed glass fiber. “It can be used for next-generation manufacturing of turbine blades, marine vessels, composite concrete and auto parts,” said chief strategy officer David Morgan, adding that the process also harvests renewable oil and synthetic gas for reuse.
While processing the shredded materials is fairly straightforward, transporting massive turbine blades and other composites over long distances by rail and truck is more complicated. “Logistics is far and away the most expensive part of this entire process,” Morgan said.
In addition to existing facilities in Tennessee and Texas, Carbon Rivers plans to build sites in Florida, Pennsylvania and Idaho over the next three years, strategically located near wind farms and other feedstock sources. “We want to build another five facilities in the U.K. and Europe, then get to the South American and Asian markets next,” he said.
In the spirit of corporate sustainability — specifically not wanting their blades piling up in landfills — wind turbine manufacturers themselves are contracting with recycling partners. In December 2020, General Electric’s Renewable Energy unit signed a multi-year agreement with Boston-based Veolia North America to recycle decommissioned blades from land-based GE turbines in the U.S.
Veolia North America opened up a recycling plant in Missouri in 2020, where it has processed about 2,600 blades to date, according to Julie Angulo, senior vice president, technical and performance. “We are seeing the first wave of blades that are 10 to 12 years old, but we know that number is going to go up year-on-year,” she said.
Using a process known as kiln co-processing, Veolia reconstitutes shredded blades and other composite materials into a fuel it then sells to cement manufacturers as a replacement for coal, sand and clay. The process reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 27% and consumption of water by 13% in cement production.
“Cement manufacturers want to walk away from coal for carbon emissions reasons,” Angulo said. “This is a good substitute, so they’re good partners for us.”
GE’s wind turbine competitors are devising ways to make the next generation of blades inherently more recyclable. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has begun producing fully recyclable blades for both its land-based and offshore wind turbines and has said it plans to make all of its turbines fully recyclable by 2040. Vestas Wind Systems has committed to producing zero-waste wind turbines by 2040, though it has not yet introduced such a version. In February, Vestas introduced a new solution that renders epoxy-based turbine blades to be broken down and recycled.
Electric vehicle lithium-ion battery scrap
Lithium-ion batteries have been in use since the early 1990s, at first powering laptops, cell phones and other consumer electronics, and for the past couple of decades EVs and energy storage systems. Recycling of their valuable innards — lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper — is focused on EVs, especially as automakers ramp up production, including building battery gigafactories. But today’s EV batteries have a lifespan of 10-20 years, or 100,000-200,000 miles, so for the time being, recyclers are primarily processing battery manufacturers’ scrap.
Toronto-based Li-Cycle, launched in 2016, has developed a two-step technology that breaks down batteries and scrap to inert materials and then shreds them, using a hydrometallurgy process, to produce minerals that are sold back into the general manufacturing supply chain. To avoid high transportation costs for shipping feedstock from various sites, Li-Cycle has geographically interspersed four facilities — in Alabama, Arizona, New York and Ontario — where it’s deconstructed. It is building a massive facility in Rochester, New York, where the materials will be processed.
“We’re on track to start commissioning the Rochester [facility] at the end of this year,” said Li-Cycle’s co-founder and CEO Ajay Kochhlar. Construction has been funded by a $375 loan from the Department of Energy (DOE), he said, adding that since the company went public, it’s also raised about $1 billion in private deals.
A different approach to battery recycling is underway at Redwood Materials, founded outside of Reno, Nevada, in 2017 by JB Straubel, the former chief technology officer and co-founder of Tesla. Redwood also uses hydrometallurgy to break down batteries and scrap, but produces anode copper foil and cathode-active materials for making new EV batteries. Because the feedstock is not yet plentiful enough, the nickel and lithium in its cathode products will only be about 30% from recycled sources, with the remainder coming from newly mined metals.
“We’re aiming to produce 100 GWh/year of cathode-active materials and anode foil for one million EVs by 2025,” Redwood said in an email statement. “By 2030, our goal is to scale to 500 GWh/year of materials, which would enable enough batteries to power five million EVs.”
Besides its Nevada facility, Redwood has broken ground on a second one in Charleston, South Carolina. The privately held company said it has raised more than $1 billion, and in February it received a conditional commitment from the DOE for a $2-billion loan from the DOE as part of the IRA. Last year Redwood struck a multi-billion dollar deal with Tesla’s battery supplier Panasonic, and it’s also inked partnerships with Volkswagen Group of America, Toyota, Ford and Volvo.
Ascend Elements, headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, utilizes hydrometallurgy technology to extract cathode-active material mostly from battery manufacturing scrap, but also spent lithium-ion batteries. Its processing facility is strategically located in Covington, Georgia, a state that has attracted EV battery makers, including SK Group in nearby Commerce, as well as EV maker Rivian, near Rutledge, and Hyundai, which is building an EV factory outside of Savannah.
Last October, Ascend began construction on a second recycling facility, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, using federal dollars earmarked for green energy projects. “We have received two grant awards from the [DOE] under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that totaled around $480 million,” said CEO Mike O’Kronley. Such federal investments, he said, “incentivizes infrastructure that needs to be built in the U.S., because around 96% of all cathode materials are made in East Asia, in particular China.”
As the nation continues to build out a multi-billion-dollar renewable energy supply chain around solar, wind and EVs, simultaneously establishing a circular economy to recover, recycle and reuse end-of-life components from those industries is essential in the overarching goal of battling climate change.
“It’s important to make sure we keep in mind the context of these emerging technologies and understand their full lifecycle,” said Garvin Heath, a senior energy sustainability analyst at NREL. “The circular economy provides a lot of opportunities to these industries to be as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible at a relatively early phase of their growth.”
Jackery increases savings on its modular Explorer 5000 Plus offers at new lows starting from $2,483
Looking back in on Jackery’s ongoing Earth Day sale through April 25, we spotted notable price cuts across the brand’s Explorer 5000 Plus offers, starting with the power station on its own for $2,483.10 shipped, after using thepromo code EARTH10 at checkout for an additional 10% off. Normally going for $3,499 at full outside of discounts, we saw it spend most of the sale’s length at the former $2,849 low with the additional 5% savings from before. Now, you’re looking at savings increasing to 29% off, giving you $1,016 in total savings at a new all-time low. Head below to learn more about this model and check out the other low prices on its bundle options. It’s also beating out its Amazon pricing, where it’s still sitting at $2,999.
The latest release from Jackery, the Explorer 5000 Plus is the brand’s largest modular backup power solution, starting with a 5,040Wh LiFePO4 capacity that can be expanded up as high as 60,000Wh. Through its 12 output ports, it can deliver up to 7,200W of power that can double to 14,400W when connected to a second power station unit – plus, it comes rated for 4,000 life cycles, meaning you can completely discharge and “recharge it every day for nearly 11 years.”
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Jackery’s Explorer 5000 Plus comes ready to cover load demands of 120V and 240V devices alike (while also extending this versatility to solar charging for better compatibility with panels that use a MC4 connector), including the batteries in your RV and EV too, making it quite the option for folks who want a plug-and-play option that they can rely on at home while also taking it out of the house on trips. Along with the ChargeShield 2.0 protections, it also comes fireproof, shockproof, and is rated with an IPX4 water-resistant rating. You can get the full rundown on its many other capabilities in our original launch coverage here.
***Note: The extra 10% off discount has not been factored into the prices below – be sure to use the code EARTH10 at checkout for the maximum savings!
Lectric Lightning Deals hit XP 3.0 e-bikes with up to $365 in free gear for outdoor ventures starting from $999
Lectric has continued many of its Earth Day e-bike bundle prices while switching things up with Lightning Deals on its XP 3.0 e-bikes that are getting increased bundles with up to $365 in free gear. You’ll find the Standard models now getting $310 bundles at $999 shipped alongside the Long-Range models getting $365 bundles at $1,199 shipped. These packages would normally cost you $1,309 and $1,564, respectively. These may not be the largest bundles we’ve seen before, but they are continuing the recent trend of gearing you up with cargo-capable add-ons for greater versatility during your outdoor ventures through spring and summer. Head below to learn more about these e-bikes and the included bundles you’ll be getting when purchasing them while these deals remain.
The best-selling e-bikes in America, Lectric’s XP 3.0 e-bikes offer durability and reliability while keeping down at extremely affordable rates. The frame provides folding capabilities for easier storage and transport when not in use, with a 500W hub motor that peaks at 1,000W and can top out at either 20 or 28 MPH speeds, depending on your state’s laws. Your decision on which to buy will largely fall on how far you want it to carry you, as the Standard models provide up to 45 miles of travel with PAS activated, while the Long-Range models take things further for up to 65 miles.
There are throttles on all the models for when you want to cruise off pure electric power, though this will decrease your travel range. They also come stocked with an integrated rear cargo rack (which the basket attaches to), puncture-resistant tires, 180mm hydraulic disc brakes, and an LCD display. Of course, don’t forget about the free gear you’ll be getting, with the Standard models coming with steel-encased front and rear cargo baskets, rear-view mirrors, a phone mount, an accordion-style bike lock, and a bottle holder. The Long-Range models are getting the same cargo package, a wide comfort saddle, a phone mount, a 35L water-resistant soft cooler, and a water-resistant pannier bag.
The e-bike pricing on the brand’s other e-bike bundles have remained the same, which you can browse in full in our original sale coverage here.
Score Anker’s SOLIX C1000 1,056Wh LiFePO4 power station with $550 in savings at $449
By way of its official Amazon storefront, Anker is offering its SOLIX C1000 Portable Power Station at $449 shipped, with the price undercutting its direct flash sale pricing by $100. This model normally sits at a full $999 price tag, though we’ve been more recently seeing it start at Amazon from $799. While we have seen it go $20 low before – last time being at the top of February – it’s been spending the last two months mostly dropping to either $499 or this same rate we’re seeing today. You’ll be scoring a 55% markdown off its MSRP while this deal lasts, giving you $550 in savings at the second-lowest price we have tracked.
Anker’s SOLIX C1000 power station makes a great camping companion for those who want a little more battery size from the camping-oriented C800 models, especially considering it’s beating those smaller models’ pricing, which starts from $499. It provides you with a 1,056Wh LiFePO4 capacity (with a bundle option below that will double that amount) alongside up to 1,800W of steady power output through its 11 port options that can surge to 2,400W for larger appliance needs. You can refill the battery to 80% in just 43 minutes when plugged into a wall outlet, though this does only account for the station alone and not any expanded setup. There’s also a 600W maximum solar input that you can take advantage of to refill the entire battery in 1.8 hours with ideal sunny conditions.
Greenworks’ latest pro-tier 3,000 PSI electric pressure washer at new $349 low (Today only)
As part of its Deals of the Day, Best Buy is offering the best price yet on the newest generation of Greenworks’ Pro 3,000 PSI Electric Pressure Washer for $349 shipped. Carrying a $450 price tag outside of discounts, we’ve seen three previous drops to $360 over at Amazon, which is currently out of stock. For the rest of the day, though, you can get a better-than-ever $101 markdown that drops costs to the lowest price we have tracked. This deal is also beating out the direct Greenworks website, where stock has also run out, making this the best place to score it to cover your outdoor cleaning needs through the months ahead.
Housed within a heavy-duty steel frame, this generation’s pro-tier model adds a foldable design over its predecessor for easier storage and transport when not in use. The 14A TruBrushless motor maxes out at 3,000 PSI for your cleaning needs, with a 1.1 to 2.0 GPM flow rate as it goes. Like its previous model, you’ll also find an onboard one-gallon detergent tank here, as well as a bunch of included accessories for wider versatility, including five nozzles, 25 feet of kink-resistant hose, and a durable quick-connect metal wand/gun.
The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.
A compact car crashed into a parked Tesla Cybertruck, messing with the electric truck’s rear suspension. The experience of trying to repair the truck was so complicated and costly that it ended up as a salvage.
The Cybertruck introduces several innovations, including its partially 48-volt electronic architecture, drive-by-wire steering, and stainless steel exterior.
However, innovations in the auto industry often come with higher or unpredictable repair costs.
The publication bought a Cybertruck last year for long-term testing, but they disclosed this week that the truck was involved in an accident in December.
A “compact sedan” crashed into the rear wheel and bumper area on the driver’s side of the Cybertruck while it was parked. As you can see from the picture above, the damage didn’t look too bad, as you would expect for a 6,000-lb truck after an impact from a much smaller sedan.
However, before they knew it, the Cybertruck was totaled.
First off, Edmunds had to go to a Tesla Collision Center that can work on the Cybertruck and there are only two around Los Angeles, where they are based.
The first one said that it would take a month before they could estimate the repair, and another 6 months to start the repairs.
The second center, located in Ontario, California, also stated that there is a one-month wait to receive an estimate, but repairs can begin immediately after that.
Edmunds decided to go with the Tesla Collision Center in Ontario, but the repair never happened since the total cost was estimated at over $57,000.
Here’s the breakdown of repairs that the Cybertruck needed:
Stripes and moldings: $619
Motors and components: $4,191 (including $3,000 for an EV drive unit)
Motor mounts: $77
Wheels and parts: $1,758
Steering: $2,040
Rear suspension: $9,149 (including $2,500 for a new suspension crossmember)
Cab and components: $3,800 (including $3,240 for a high-strength steel frame)
Bed: $8,762.79 (including $1,595 for the outer panel, $4,280 for the aluminum rear section and $1,055 for the bed floor)
Tailgate: $2,495
Rear bumper: $2,417.73
Rear body, lamps and floor plan: $1,668.50 (including $800 for the inner taillamp assembly)
Miscellaneous parts: $357.22
Other parts: $5
Paint and materials: $610
Tax on parts and materials: $3,320.65
Labor: $16,584
Sublet repairs: $25
Needless to say, the truck was declared totaled, and it just fetched $8,000 on a salvage car auction site.
Electrek’s Take
Holy moly! That’s insane. The suspension getting screwed from the vehicle smashing directly into the rear wheel I get. That could have happened with any truck, and sure, you’d be looking at over $10,000 in damages easily.
However, $9,000 to fix the bed, $2,500 to fix the rear bumper, and $2,500 to fix the bumper, and that’s just in parts before the $16,500 of labor overall, is nuts and doesn’t scream “heavy duty” and “apocalypse proof” truck.
The Cybertruck was supposed to be a rugged, stainless steel truck that you wouldn’t mind getting dinged and scratched. I think it will be challenging to justify this with $57,000 in damages for a relatively mild crash.
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An Amazon Web Services data center in Stone Ridge, Virginia, on July 28, 2024.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
OKLAHOMA CITY — Amazon and Nvidia executives said Thursday that the construction of artificial intelligence data centers is not slowing down, as recession fears have some investors questioning whether tech companies will pull back on some of their plans.
“There’s been really no significant change,” Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centers, said at a conference organized by the Hamm Institute for American Energy. “We continue to see very strong demand, and we’re looking both in the next couple years as well as long term and seeing the numbers only going up.”
The comments run contrary to worrying buzz building on Wall Street about tech companies changing data center buildout plans. Wells Fargo analysts said Monday that Amazon Web Services is pausing some leases on data center commitments, citing industry sources. The magnitude of the pause was unclear, the analysts said, but the comments raised fears that Amazon was doing something similar to Microsoft’s recent move to pull back on some early stage projects.
Miller said “there’s been little tea leaf reading and extrapolating to strange results” about Amazon’s plans.
Nvidia is also not seeing signs of a slowdown, said Josh Parker, the chipmaker’s senior director of corporate sustainability.
“We haven’t seen a pullback,” Parker said. China’s artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek sparked a sell-off in power stocks earlier this year as investors worried that its artificial intelligence model is more efficient and data centers might need as much energy as originally anticipated.
But Parker said Nvidia sees compute and energy demand only rising due to AI, describing the reaction to DeepSeek as “kneejerk.” Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said 50 gigawatts of new power capacity will be needed by 2027 to support AI. That is the equivalent of about 50 new nuclear plants.
“Anthropic and the other AI companies, what we’re seeing is tremendous growth in the need for new baseload power. We’re seeing unprecedented growth,” Clark said.
The executives were speaking at a gathering of tech and energy companies at a conference in Oklahoma City organized by the Hamm Institute to discuss how the U.S. can address the growing energy needs for AI. There is a growing consensus in both industries that natural gas will be needed to meet the power needs.