The growing pile of old solar panels could create a global market worth more than $20 billion a year by 2050.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that companies could recover valuable materials from retired solar panels instead of dumping them in landfills. Those materials include aluminium, silver, silicon and copper, and manufacturers could reuse them in new solar panels or other industrial products.
IRENA expects this opportunity to grow as more panels reach the end of their working lives. Its latest report projects that the world could generate over 3 million tonnes of end-of-life solar panels annually by 2035. That figure could climb above 25 million tonnes a year by 2050.
This creates both a waste problem and a business opportunity.
For Nigeria and other African countries expanding solar power, the opportunity could stretch far beyond large recycling plants. Small businesses could enter areas such as collection, transportation, testing, repair and refurbishment.
Old Solar Panels Still Hold Valuable Materials
Solar panels can run for decades. However, damage, declining performance and ageing eventually push them out of service.IRENA argues that countries shouldn’t automatically write off these panels as waste. Some can keep working after repairs or refurbishment. Companies can test used units, fix the viable ones and sell them into secondary markets.
IRENA describes this reuse process as a way to extend a panel’s working life through testing, repair and refurbishment. Once reuse no longer makes economic sense, recyclers can dismantle the panels and recover their materials.A typical crystalline silicon panel packs large amounts of glass and aluminium, along with silicon, copper and smaller quantities of valuable metals like silver.
IRENA estimates the annual value of recovered materials could reach about $6 billion by 2040 and exceed $20 billion by 2050. Aluminium could account for almost half of that value by 2050, while silver could contribute roughly one-third. Silicon and copper would make up much of what’s left.
This opportunity goes beyond selling scrap, though. Recovered materials could flow back into manufacturing supply chains, cutting demand for newly mined materials and giving manufacturers another source of industrial inputs.
Recycling Is Only Part of the Business
Solar waste could support several businesses long before a panel ever reaches a recycling plant.
Companies could collect old panels from homes, businesses and solar farms. Other operators could test them to check whether they still work. Technicians could repair panels with minor faults, while refurbishment businesses could prepare usable units for resale.
Logistics companies would also need to move retired panels from scattered installations to testing centres and recycling facilities. Only the panels with no practical second life would move fully into material recovery.
This opens up several entry points for smaller businesses. A Nigerian entrepreneur may lack the capital to build an industrial recycling plant, but that same entrepreneur could still build a collection network or repair business instead.
IRENA says effective end-of-life systems need several players, including manufacturers, importers, dealers, utilities, waste companies and governments. That means the future market could support businesses at different points along the value chain.
Also Read: Nigerians Spent N435bn on Solar Panels in One Year
What This Means to Nigeria
Nigeria continues to expand off-grid solar systems, mini-grids and other renewable-energy projects. This expansion gives more homes and businesses access to electricity, but it also creates equipment that the country will eventually need to repair, reuse or dispose of safely.
Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency has already flagged this risk. In its environmental framework for the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project, the agency warns that photovoltaic panels and used solar batteries could create hazardous waste problems if operators mishandle them at the end of their lives.
The REA also names the disposal of used solar panels as a long-term risk as Nigeria expands its off-grid energy systems.
Nigeria already has rules covering electrical and electronic waste. The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency requires producers of electrical and electronic products to join its Extended Producer Responsibility framework, which places some responsibility for end-of-life products on the businesses that put them into the market.
Still, the rapid growth of solar installations will demand stronger collection, tracking and treatment systems built specifically for solar equipment. Without them, broken panels could simply join Nigeria’s wider electronic-waste stream instead of returning to productive use.
Having millions of retired panels doesn’t automatically create a profitable recycling industry. Companies must first collect enough panels at a reasonable cost.Solar installations sit scattered across homes, farms, offices, factories and remote communities, so moving those panels to central processing facilities can get expensive fast.
IRENA identifies collection and logistics as key parts of a viable circular system. It also recommends policies that encourage reuse before recycling wherever panels still have useful life left.Scale will matter too. A recycler needs enough material flowing through a facility to justify the cost of specialised equipment.
Governments can help by setting collection standards, defining producer responsibilities and creating clear rules for second-hand solar equipment. Those rules could also give investors more certainty when considering recycling plants and refurbishment centres.
The Bigger Picture
For Nigerian businesses, the $20 billion figure shouldn’t suggest that Nigeria itself already has a $20 billion solar-waste market today. IRENA’s estimate covers the global annual value of recovered materials by 2050, and Nigeria’s real opportunity lies in building part of that emerging value chain early.
Companies that develop expertise in collection, diagnostics, repair, refurbishment and material recovery could serve a market that grows alongside solar adoption.
The panels going onto Nigerian roofs today may keep producing electricity for decades. But eventually, someone will need to collect, repair, resell or recycle them. That’s where the next solar business opportunity could begin.
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