The anti-reflective coating on solar glass, which gives it a blue tint, is shredded into tiny pieces. However, there is little value in much of the waste from solar plants.The anti-reflective coating on solar glass, which gives it a blue tint, is shredded into tiny pieces. However, there is little value in much of the waste from solar plants.
“While manufacturers claim decades of longevity, degradation of these panels sets in much sooner,” says Atif Mirza, director of Fusion Sprint Recycler, a solar-farm waste contractor in Uttar Pradesh. Panels can break during installation and transport or through exposure to monsoons and typhoons.About two-thirds of the waste is expected to originate from five states – Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh – which house eight of India’s 10 largest solar parks.
Mirza, who is the official contractor for Ayana Renewable Power’s plants across India’s solar parks, including in Pavagada, says he sells dismantled parts to traders but admits: “We don’t know what they do with it.”Because authorised e-waste contractors are often unwilling to handle the waste in accordance with the CPCB protocol, a network of informal operators – who dismantle, aggregate, transport and recycle panels – have stepped in to fill the gap.
Tayyab’s story is just one among many in the informal solar-waste sector, where workers find ways to extract value from the under-regulated but booming renewable-energy sector.Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development teamHussain* is from a family of e-waste dealers in household appliances, computers and televisions, but has carved out a niche for himself handling solar waste.