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Almost every day, Anthony Vippond's solar recycling plant in Melbourne's north receives dozens of used solar panels.

In the car park, multiple tilting towers of the devices, held together by tie-downs, take up the spaces.

Right now, a lot of them come from schools as the state government upgrades or replaces about 500 solar panel systems.

Others come from businesses, homes or solar farms from rural Victoria.

Some have large holes shot through the middle, others are smashed, but most have no damage at all and have been cast aside because they are not as efficient as they once were.

All those used panels have to go somewhere, and it cannot be landfill; Victoria, South Australia and the ACT have banned solar panels ending up in landfill — they have to be taken to e-waste drop off points to be recycled.

It was a move made to stop heavy metals in the panels from leaching into the earth, and — with roughly 26,000 tonnes of solar panels predicted to be thrown away every year in Victoria from 2035 — to force industry to innovate.

Solar panels aren't made to be taken apart

John Polhill from Sustainability Victoria says it is a "unique experience" to be able to foresee a waste stream before it arrives.

But recycling solar panels is not straightforward.

To be reused, solar panels need to be broken down so each component — including glass, aluminium, copper, plastic and silicon — can be separated. And that takes a lot of heavy machinery to achieve.

Some of those materials can then be sold and used in new products.

Various companies in Victoria and South Australia are trialling different methods of breaking down solar panels from using chemicals and heat, to dry processes and computerised mechanical systems.

They each say their process is better than the one next door. But all have admitted one thing: the margins are not great.  

A new way to extract nano silicon

Most solar recyclers strip and sell the aluminium from the frame, try to extract as many valuable metals as possible, then stockpile the rest.

Mr Polhill says at the moment, "it would be cheaper to put them into landfill than to recover them".

"Over the last few years companies have started to invest in recovering other materials but that is in its infancy and those materials have a very small market," he says.

But, there is one part of a solar panel that could change that: nano silicon.

Silicon is found within the black and grey panels that capture sunlight.

And when refined into its purest form, nano silicon, it can sell for about $64,000 per kilogram. It is a ubiquitous substance used in everything from mobile phones and concrete to rubber, plastic, and computer chips.

Until now it has been tricky to reduce silicon down into its nano particles without using harmful chemicals like hydrochloric acid and nitric acid.

But researchers from Deakin University in Geelong say they have figured out a way to do it that is cheap, effective and safe for the environment.

Researchers at the university started investigating their theory in 2019 and have repeatedly tested and reviewed the process to prove it can work and be scaled up for commercial use.

"Compared to other processes around the world, my process is really environmentally friendly," Deakin senior research fellow Mokhlesur Rahman says.

Making recycling solar panels more profitable

Dr Rahman says he's also discovered a way to combine nano silicon with graphite to create longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries for use in products like electric cars.

It is a breakthrough that could make recycling solar panels a far more viable industry.

Back at his recycling plant, Mr Vippond has been trying to create new products like sleepers and furniture from solar panel products, but says a way to easily and cheaply extract and sell nano silicon would be a game changer.

"Some of the work like Deakin University and others are doing in their research is quite incredible."

But Mr Polhill is sceptical.

"How do we take that research and create a business model — that's the real nut to crack in this," he says.

"Recycling solar panels in Australia is in its infancy. So it needs continuous investment from both industry and from government to support this developing market and some of the technologies as well."

'It's going to eclipse all other e-waste'

Chris Sayers has been involved in e-waste recycling for over a decade in Western Australia and started recycling solar panels in Victoria about a year ago.

He says the volume of solar panels that will enter waste streams in the next decade "is going to be stratospheric".

"It's going to eclipse all other e-waste, it's a huge opportunity," he says.

He agrees research like that being done at Deakin University has the potential to improve the industry by teaching recyclers how to extract materials with as little contamination as possible.

"If [materials] can be extracted cleanly and decontaminated and a solution to recycle them found, ideally locally, then you can maximise your operation," he says.

Mr Sayers says countries in Europe are "embarrassingly ahead" of Australia in the space.

He is one of many in the industry who want to see the federal government implement a product stewardship scheme so manufacturers bear some of the economic brunt of recycling panels.

Photovoltaic systems (solar panels) have been on the government's priority list for product stewardship for about six years. A nationwide scheme is meant to be operational by June.

A spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water says the government is working with stakeholders to design a scheme for solar system waste.

"Timing will of course depend on the regulatory design work currently being undertaken, which is important to get right," they say.