Most homeowners with a solar system want to do the right thing.

At Second Life Solar we know you are the kind of person who wants to make a positive contribution to the world and the environment.

That’s why you installed a solar energy system all those years ago.  Of course seeing the savings to your energy costs has been great but really it was about helping drive the uptake of more renewable energy.

 

The problem is that as you go to upgrade your old solar system to help create even more renewable energy you realise that you need to do something with your old solar panels. Throwing them away doesn’t feel right because you are just creating more waste in the world.

Recycling is still in its infancy and so even if you can find a solar recycler it still doesn’t seem right to recycle perfectly good solar panels (even if they have a few more wrinkles than when they were new 😉

We know exactly how you feel because we faced this exact same problem when we had to replace the roof on our 1970’s home and decided to replace our 10 year old 1.5kW solar system with a bigger pv array.

Our old system was still working and it was soooo frustrating that the only option we could find was throwing them away in landfill. Surely there had to be a better way.

“Researchers predict Australia will accumulate 1 million tonnes of solar panel waste by 2047 — if laid down end to end they would encircle the Earth 3 times!”

Macquarie University

That’s why we created Second Life Solar to provide a circular solution to the solar industry.

In fact in mid 2022 we installed a first-of-its-kind second life solar project, installing a small 8kW solar system made up of second hand (serviceable) solar panels from across NSW (including the old solar panels from our own home) at the Whylandra Waste and Recycling Centre in Dubbo NSW.

Others also think our idea is pretty good with Second Life Solar being recognised as a winner of the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Impact Challenge, a finalist in The Circle Awards AUS & NZ 2022, and the 2022 NSW Banksia Awards.

Here’s how it works…

Step 1 – First you request a quote and one of our certified Second Life Solar installers will get in touch with you to get some details about your electricity consumption, your existing solar system and they will then prepare a custom quote for you. Our certified installers know how to treat your old panels to make sure they don’t get damaged on removal so we can reuse them in a solar garden.

Step 2 – Once you accept the quote your new system will be installed and your old panels will be collected and sent to us for testing. We then test your panels using a cool technology we developed with the CSIRO that tells us if the panels are in good condition and suitable for reuse. Those panels that might not be suitable for reuse get sent to one of our recycling partners.

Step 3 – Finally, the panels that pass the testing get allocated to a solar garden and get a second life generating clean renewable energy rather than ending up as waste in landfill.

We are just getting started on our journey make solar energy even more sustainable so make sure you join our wait list, so you can help stop old solar panels going to landfill and continue to be a pioneer driving more renewable energy uptake but also be a pioneer in creating a circular solar system