Singapore’s renewable ecosystem is set to be even more sustainable with the launch of a new advanced solar panel recycling system developed by local deep-tech start-up EtaVolt and recycling firm Redux.
CEO and Co-Founder of EtaVolt, Dr Stanley Wang, said the ability to recycle and recover valuable materials from used photovoltaic (PV) panels will play an increasingly important role as Singapore expands its solar deployment.
“With thousands of solar panels being replaced each year, we need technology that can help Singapore manage this waste responsibly and ensure that renewable energy remains sustainable,” he said. “By recovering materials that can be reused within the industry, we strengthen the circular economy and reduce the environmental footprint of solar adoption.”
The new PV recycling system uses fully automated mechanical processes that can dismantle and recycle up to 36,000 panels a year.
It can recover up to 96 percent of materials from each panel, including glass, plastic, silicon chips and metals.
A dust filtration system is also integrated with the PV recycling line to reduce contaminants and enhance workers’ safety.
EtaVolt, a deep tech spin-off from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), is contributing its PV engineering expertise developed from research commercialised by the Energy Research Institute at NTU (ERI@N).
Its proprietary solar PV recycling technology forms the basis of the process design, materials analysis and technical adaptation behind the new system, while Redux will oversee material recovery and recycling operations.
Together, the companies aim to address growing volumes of end-of-life solar panels as early installations from the 2000s reach replacement age.
Founder and Business Development Director of Redux, Mr Jeff Seah, said the collaboration fills a critical gap in the solar value chain.
“This is a fledgling industry for Singapore, with gaps in services to ensure truly sustainable solar panel maintenance and management,” he said. “As our nation continues to increase our reliance on solar power, we also generate more solar e-waste. Redux sought out solutions to manage this waste holistically”.
EtaVolt is now working with more industry partners to deploy customised PV recycling systems for companies managing large-scale solar installations, supporting Singapore’s wider shift towards sustainable energy and circular resource use.
This deployment also marks a meaningful collaboration between both companies and Vector Green to close the loop on the solar value chain. By combining EtaVolt’s deep-tech recycling technology, Redux’s operational capabilities, and Vector Green’s industry expertise in solar lifecycle management, the partnership strengthens Singapore’s ability to manage solar waste responsibly and sustainably. As highlighted by Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, innovative recycling solutions like this not only reduce solar waste and lower lifecycle emissions for firms, they also contribute directly to Singapore’s national goal of reducing per-capita waste to landfill by 30 per cent by 2030.
Growing market demand for PV recycling
Assessing Singapore’s future solar waste levels, an expert in solar materials, NTU Professor Nripan Mathews, Provost’s Chair in Materials Science and Engineering, conservatively estimated that approximately 3,500 metric tonnes of waste solar panels will be generated locally over the next five years.
This figure is expected to rise sharply after 2030, as large-scale solar installations commissioned from 2010 onwards approach the end of their operational lifespan.
Prof Mathews said the projection is based on installation age, early catastrophic failure rates of about 0.8 per cent, and early upgrades of around 3 per cent.
Some buildings also replace their solar panels early, even though they remain functional, as newer panels are cheaper, more efficient and can generate significantly more power from the same limited roof space.
“In Singapore, every square metre matters. Newer panels can produce far more energy than older models, sometimes even doubling their output, so upgrading can make economic sense,” added Prof Mathews, who is also the Cluster Director, Renewables & Low-Carbon Solutions, ERI@N, and Associate Chair (Research), School of Materials Science and Engineering.
He noted that the local recycling ecosystem is still developing: “Today, most recycling involves basic crushing that produces low-grade materials. More advanced chemical and mechanical methods that extract high-purity silicon and silver are being tested, but these are not yet widely deployed. This is where NTU is actively researching, developing and test-bedding technologies with industry partners,” he added.
Together with ERI@N scientists, EtaVolt seeks to better assess and improve the purity of recycled materials, enabling recovered PV materials to be fed directly into upcycling processes.
The start-up is also developing an integrated solar panel inspection system combined with advanced software as the next step in its technology roadmap.