AES partners with Solarcycle

Global energy company AES Corp., headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, says it has signed a recycling services agreement with Solarcycle, a recycling services company headquartered in Oakland, California. Through a pilot program, AES can send construction breakage and end-of-life solar panel material to Solarcycle’s recycling facility in Odessa, Texas, to be recycled and repurposed.

In April, the companies launched the first phase of this initiative when Solarcycle transported decommissioned panels from an AES facility in Arizona to its Odessa site. The panels will be processed, and value-added materials will be sent to vetted, domestic material off-takers, including several local companies in Texas, Solarcycle says.

By the fourth quarter of this year, Solarcycle’s facility will be able to process 1 million panels, supporting more than 100 jobs.

Across its U.S. portfolio, AES is assessing current and projected recycling needs that will further enable solar material life cycle circularity as it continues to transfer to clean energy production in the United States.

The nonexclusive agreement between AES and Solarcycle supports the growing U.S. solar manufacturing industry, driven by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), by increasing the domestic supply of recycled materials for the production of new solar panels, including glass, silicon and metals, such as silver, copper and aluminum, the companies say.

“To strengthen U.S. energy security, we must continue to support domestic supply chains,” says Leo Moreno, president of AES Clean Energy. “As one of the world’s leading energy solution providers, AES is committed to sustainable business practices that accelerate these goals. This agreement is an important step in building a vibrant secondary market for end-of-life solar materials and getting us closer to a true domestic circular solar economy.”

According to research by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), by 2040 recycled panels and materials can expect to help meet 25 percent to 30 percent of the U.S.’ domestic solar manufacturing needs.

Solarcycle says its patented technology extracts more than 95 percent of the value in a solar panel, providing an opportunity to reuse materials critical to the large-scale deployment of clean energy. Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the company a $1.5 million research grant to further test refinement processes and maximize the value of recovered materials, with support from NREL.

“Solarcycle is excited to be working with AES—one of the largest solar asset owners in America—on this pilot program to assess their existing and future recycling needs,” Suvi Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Solarcycle, says. “As demand for solar energy grows rapidly in the United States, it is critical to have proactive leaders like AES who are committed to developing a more sustainable and domestic supply chain for the solar industry. Their leadership is transforming this emerging challenge into a massive opportunity that creates good jobs like the ones in our west Texas factory while simultaneously making solar even more sustainable and our domestic supply chains even more resilient.”