While solar panel use has many benefits, it will come to the point that it will stop working. Solar panels can last up to 30 years, but some factors like factory defect, age, and environmental factors can affect how long it will be functional.
If the solar panels or the whole solar system gets broken, it needs to be taken down and dispose of properly.
Here are the ways how to discard unwanted solar system equipment accordingly.
Solar Inverters
- Sell them. Old but working solar inverters can be sold at a low price
- Discard them as electronic waste. If you choose to dispose of it as such, you need to pay for its disposal, which is likely around $20 for an inverter 5 kilowatts or less. An additional payment is required if you want it to be picked up from your place. If you drop it off yourself at the e-waste disposal site, Electronic Recycling Australia and MRI e-cycle solutions will do the disposal free of charge.
Solar Mounting
- Sell them. Some parts of the solar mounting such as the clamps, stainless steel mounts, aluminium roof rails, can be sold as scrap metals that could give you back some money.
Solar Panels
- Store them. If you haven’t decided yet what to do with your unwanted solar panels, you can store them in the meantime. The storage place should be dry and away from the sunlight to limit their deterioration, in case you still intend to use them for the future. You should also carefully dismount it from the roof to avoid it getting damaged if you still want it to be of use in the future. Solar panels are not extremely dangerous and do not pose health hazards if they are appropriately stored.
- Hand them down. You can give it for free to someone who still can use it.
- Give them away to scrap dealers. Giving them for free to scrap dealers can also be one option. Scrap dealers can recycle the useable and valuable parts of the panels.
- Ask your local council if they can take them. Some local Council, like the Adelaide City Council, accepts solar panels as part of their hard rubbish collection. So you can check with your local council if they do the same.
- Discard them as electronic waste. This option can cost you money, especially if you have a lot of solar panels. Local e-waste disposal centre charges $20 per panel for a few pieces, but if there are more panels, it needs to be weighed first to compute the exact amount.
- Have them recycled. As more households have been using solar panels, waste management will be a significant concern soon. To do your part, you can choose to have them recycled and not allow them to go to waste. There are now several recycling companies in Australia where you can bring your solar panels to be recycled. They will charge around $30 per panel.
Solar Shop Online is a solar servicing company based in Melbourne. We provide the necessary tools and a team of professionals to take care of your solar panels. We offer a full system check of your PV solar to make sure it is working efficiently. Give us a call at 1300 620 290 or email us at info@solarshoponline.com.au today to request a Solar System Service for your system.