Comstock to commission first solar panel recycling facility

Comstock Metals, based in Virginia City, Nevada, has secured sufficient supplier commitments to begin commissioning the company’s first photovoltaic recycling facility once it receives the necessary permits.

In a news release, the company says the world remains focused on the production of energy generation and storage technologies to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and especially photovoltaics. It notes that the majority of solar panels have been deployed in the southwest region of the United States, primarily California, Nevada and Arizona, with an acceleration of the decommissioning of these end-of-life solar panels occurring now.

RELATED: Comstock appoints new director and audit committee chair

“A critical 2023 objective was securing revenue-generating orders for recycling decommissioned solar panels in our first facility,” says Corrado De Gasperis, Comstock’s executive chairman and CEO. “The associated clients are ready to begin supplying decommissioned panels to our demonstration-scale facility on a continuous basis. Our technology and renewable solutions provide a superior alternative to landfilling these polluting materials.”

The company currently is deploying a demonstration system that commercializes technologies for efficiently crushing, conditioning, extracting and recycling metal and mineral concentrates from photovoltaics and other electronic devices. Comstock Metals previously received a storage permit and expects to receive the remaining permits, such as for air quality and solid waste, soon to begin receiving, commissioning and processing end-of-life panels in early 2024.

“We represent a safe, zero-landfill, end-of-life solution for solar installers, landfills and utility-scale solar developers and generators, serving the entire Southwestern U.S. and beyond,” Comstock Metals President Fortunato Villamagna says. “Large volumes of end-of-life photovoltaic materials are rapidly becoming available from large solar fields, effectively creating an environmental dilemma for our ecosystem. Comstock’s solution ensures the safe deconstruction, decontamination, separation and productive reuse of important and precious metals contained in end-of-life photovoltaic materials.”

RELATED: A virtuous cycle

Comstock Metals' 2024 objectives include receiving the final permits early in the new year, completing commissioning of photovoltaic material recycling, beginning production, expanding its existing revenue generating supply commitments and then finalizing the design and site selection for its first “industry-scale” facility.