Solar Panel Guy Looking to Get Into The Scrap Buis!

What's up guys? Hope everyone is doing well, and making $$$ on their hustle out there.

My name is Brando, from NYC. Been in the architectural metals business for about 10 years, and started a Solar Energy company about 5 years ago. We deal exclusively with commercial clients through out the good Ol' USofA, with a specific focus on the Eastern Seaboard.

On here to try and gain some knowledge about the industry, and hopefully make some connections in the arena of recycling & Scrapping these solar panels and components of the systems.

My view on it is that everyone is installing these things, but no one is paying attention or coming up with a removal plan down the road. Some guys across the pond have a pretty good grasp on it, and seems that they are doing the right thing, but as far as here in the states... I don't think anyone is even thinking about this yet.

Anyways, Looking to link up with some quality contacts, gain some knowledge of the scrap value of the materials I'm unsure of, and who knows... maybe get into some E-Waste recycling/Scrapping at the same time, as I would imagine what I am looking to do falls into that part of the industry.

If you have any advice, thoughts, or suggestions I'm all ears, and hope to hear from you. Also, if anyone reading this has some clients, or people they may know who would be interested in Solar Energy of their business, and/or buildings private message me and let's try and get em on board. I offer an EXTREMELY aggressive finders fee for those that have the "Connects"

Looking forward to what's to come. Talk to you all soon.

Brando

Eeeeek .... I was just advising against average working folks jumping on newer technology in another thread.

First off: Welcome to the board ! It's good to have you with us !

Secondly: It wasn't aimed at you.

Solar hot water is actually pretty well established now. Don't know if it's true but i heard that about half of the homes in the land of OZ (Australia) get their domestic hot from solar ?

I would imagine that you might run into quite a bit of copper tubing in some of the older systems. That's easy.

You might check out the e-waste buyers section here. It probably wouldn't be very hard to hook up with someone that buys circuit boards.

Best of luck ! :)

ETA: I think the best thing you could do to expand your solar business would be to cultivate good working relationships with a number of different architects. (The architected jobs are generally high end and oftentimes they're paid as a percentage of the total job cost.)

They have their favorite contractors that they like to work with. If you become their "go to" guy for solar it can yield years of work.

Same with the mechanical & heating engineers that design a commercial building's mechanical systems.

Heh heh heh... No worries! No offense taken...

Truth is, on the side of the business I'm focusing on (Photovoltics and Renewables) there isn't much known as to what to do with the waste at all. Some parts of it are cut and dry... real easy to get rid of, we all know what they are worth, other materials are where the question mark pops up above the holders head.

Solar hot water is great, a lot of copper, some aluminum, etc... the Photovoltaic panels are a whole different ball game. A lot of toxic materials, not sure of the value of that, or the reusable value either. I'm hoping being on this forum that there is someone who may have some forward thinking, and understand the valuation of the scrap side of it.

I will definitely be surfing around on here and looking for answers and ideas.

Thanks for the warm welcome, and I definitely hope to get out there to Australia to check out the market... and the ocean, LOL.

I've only been into the e-waste as a sideline for a bit over a year so i'm probably not much help. It might be that someone more experienced would jump in on panel recycling.

It's just grist for the mill, but you're from NYC. It would mean a lot of travel but have you tried to expand out into the rural areas. I live way out in the boonies and power outages are pretty common. About half of the year round homes in this area have some form of backup power supply for when the lights go out.

I've got three generators. 1 gasoline, 1 dual fuel, and one diesel. On average, they burn about 2.50 - 3.50 $ / fuel per hour. Even if i run them sparingly it's least 40.00$/day for electricity. Then there's the noise, equipment maint. & upkeep, fuel storage, initial cost, etc. When you add it all up the total cost is something to consider.

PV is about the only sustainable option for backup power or living off the grid.

It's nice to have, but you really don't need 5 - 12 kw to run your home. Just enough to run the furnace, the freezer,and a few cfl's. Running water is very helpful but most well pumps run on 220 and pull quite a bit of amperage on the startup. (There are 12 VDC submersible pumps available.)

I'm not quite ready to jump into solar because the best panels i've seen so far are less than 15% efficient but it seems promising. Some day the technology will improve.

Just something to consider. A lot of folks in this area have strong environmental sentiments. They love the idea of solar and would be willing to invest in it if the price point was right. I wonder how it would compare with the total setup cost of one of those stand alone Kohler propane units that they sell at the big box building materials stores ?

Gallium and Indium are pretty valuable, and both of them can be found in a copper indium gallium selenide solar cell which is a type of thin film solar cell.

Silver is also pretty valuable and can be found in solar cells.

I don't know if this helps. Just thought I would throw it out there. Good luck.

Welcome to the forum from the Dakota's. Your timing is impeccable. I am in the process of investigating solar power for my newest project and would love to tap your expertise. Problem is until you have a certain number of posts you cannot private message. I think it is ten posts, but a moderator might chime in and provide accuracy to this statement. Please private message me when you have the privilege. Good luck on your venture.

Welcome to the forum, This is all the farther down the green path I have managed to get.. Nice to have you onboard.
http://i1326.photobucket.com/albums/...ps466254b4.jpg

[QUOTE=Ironhunter;212683]Welcome to the forum, This is all the farther down the green path I have managed to get.. Nice to have you onboard.

Recognize the aluminum can solar collector. At least it is assumed this is what you posted. Fantastic and I continue to learn about the value of solar energy. Thank you.

Responded to everyone below...

Scrappah - the panels have come up in efficiency pretty well since the 13-15% days. We are looking more in the area of 18-21% right now, and I expect them to get better over time. Battery back up systems are a 50/50 shot in my book. There are some hybrid systems that are pretty cool" but also very pricey. We have focused on commercial clients in urban areas, however just finished a project in Fl, and are in the process of locking a job in Ca, so I definitely hear you on branching out. There are so many guys doing residential now we steer clear pretty much, and leave that to the guys who are set up for that type of work... I prefer doing larger projects.

Evan - you are definitely right on the money with that one! Those are super valuable, but 95% of systems installed are mono or polycrystalline so I am trying to focus on that area and figure out what the scrap value of the c-si (crystalline silicon) is and if it is reusable and has any market value as scrap right now. I've seen a few bits of info on it, but being that they don't expect this side of the industry to really start up heavy till 2020 the scientists and recycling plants are just kind of sitting back waiting... But it is projected to be a $21 billion industry by 2027. I'm just hoping I can get a piece before the 1000 pound gorillas swoop in and steal the banana tree! Lol

Patriot76 - I better get posting... Lol. Probably should have done this in 4 separate posts... Might have been able to pm by now, lol. Looking forward to chopping it up with you soon. I will be in touch.

Thanks all for the responses!!!

It seems to me on my reading of just this thread you may be looking to establish a new market. What I mean is there might not currently be a market for your scrap material but you might be able to develope one. In all the different types of scrap quanity can make markets. If you have enough material someone may want to process it.

If you find youself without a market i suggest you contact the manufactures of the equipment you install. My approach would start with their web site(s) and look to see if they speak of their "green" programs. Remember the manufactures are the ones who most likely have the largest pile the of scrap material you are attempting to find a market for. They may already have a reclycling chain set up that you can jump on. If no market is there look hard to see if you can develope one.

I hope you let us know what your progress is. Best of luck. Mike

Welcome from Massachusetts.

This Market is not new its just not all that profitable. I've read on other forums about this and its all been a money losing adventure if you have to pay for them. If you get them free or as a byproduct it may net some money. I would suggest contacting the manufacturer about their recycling experience for them in the US and EU. The Eu might be better as they have better recycling requirement than the US. Also If you can contact some silicon buyers they may be interested.

You are looking at lots of work and little values in them. More than likely the manufacturers will have to do buy back programs for these too.

If they were mine I would set up a store for people to buy broken PVs cheap I bet they would sell and make more money. Or grind them up and make cement aggregate with them.

Eric

Eric

That's been the issue as a whole from what I have seen. There isn't a cost effective way to recycle & reuse the panels.

Supposedly there is supposed to be some value in the C-Si (Crystalline Silicon), and I know that the Tin Soldering is getting some good money per lb too, but the extraction process is extremely labor intensive, and time consuming! Once you have that out of the way the rest is all gravy... Copper, Aluminum, Glass, Silver, Gold sometimes even Platinum, and that's just the panel... I would love to break down an inverter and see what's in there!

One of the main issues is that the regulations surrounding C-Si call for it to be labeled Toxic Material... but when the powers that be run the tests on it, it doesn't register as toxic material so it remains unregulated.... but even though it's unregulated, it's still labeled toxic material and can't be processed... See the issue here? Being that I don't know the long term health effects it could have on my potential workers if I have raw C-Si lying around in barrels, or piles until I can establish a value for it I am trying to see if through these forums I can find someone that know's better then I do.

Manufacturers have some take back programs in place, but all the take back programs are in EU. A company by the name of First Solar started a recycling program internally which supposedly has worked for them, but then they removed their funding for such program and stepped back from that area, I'm guessing to re-enter when it is a more profitable plan for them. USA is grossly behind the curve on this and really needs to get on board, but the mighty dollar is key.

We're looking at roughly 50,000 tons of this stuff being scrap ready in 2015 alone, and an industry that will prospectively grow from $125 million a year in 2017 to $3.9 Billion a year in 2025 (Rough Numbers). I know that's a ways off... but if 3 years from now we're at $125 Million annual waste available for scrap, we have to be in the $50 Million mark right now as we are typing this... Wouldn't you think? Again... problem is... what the hell do we do with this stuff?

Frustrating to know you are at the cusp of a huge industry, but just a little to early to know what to do with it. I have all the ideas in place... some of which I KNOW will work, just unsure of how to offload, why couldn't I have this problem with Copper?!?!?! LMAO!!!

Patriot - I got the message and responded back, but I don't know if it went through. Doesn't show as a sent message in the mailbox. Send that info when you see this.

Thanks.

question. I got the scrap forms because i recently acquire Pure 7n 99.99999 gallium and arsenic 7n 99.9999. also ingots,wafers and scrap of this product. Heard it could be very valuable. Can you give me a insight.

Actually, our company here in Houston is looking for exactly that. Solar and Solar products. You have one of the things we are looking for, and I know exactly what to do with them. If you like you can PM me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Houstonecycler

Actually, our company here in Houston is looking for exactly that. Solar and Solar products. You have one of the things we are looking for, and I know exactly what to do with them. If you like you can PM me.

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Hi, I have about 70 pallets worth of Solar Panels. contact me by e-mail or by telephone at 310-596-6224