Solarcycle struck a partnership with Runergy Alabama in which it will recycle the company’s solar panels and provide glass for new panels, the company announced Tuesday.
Solarcycle, founded in 2021, is in the midst of an expansion amid a rising volume of solar panels reaching the end of their lives. The company's first advanced solar recycling facility is located in Odessa, Texas.
Solarcycle closed a series A funding round that raised $31.5 million in March 2023, following which Solarcycle CEO and co-founder Suvi Sharma said the company was working to expand capacity in Odessa to process a million panels per year at the facility.
The company is also planning to build a $344 million solar recycling plant in Georgia. That facility is expected to produce enough solar glass to generate five to six gigawatts annually once operational in 2026. In its deal with Runergy, Solarcycle is expected to supply at least 30 million square meters of glass or enough to produce 4 gigawatts of energy over a five-year period from the Georgia facility.
"We are thrilled to partner with SOLARCYCLE to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of our manufacturing process," Jusong Wang, managing director at Runergy Alabama, said in a statement. "This partnership not only strengthens our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint but also ensures that our products have a more sustainable lifecycle from production through to recycling for the U.S."
Solarcycle has partnered with other suppliers in the past to secure a feedstock for its Odessa plant. Denmark-based Ørsted reached an agreement with the company in July 2023 to provide Solarcycle with 100% of its decommissioned panels in the U.S.
Last year, Solarcycle’s Sharma told Waste Dive that the company charged about $18 per decommissioned panel, but that fee could be reduced as the company achieves greater economies of scale. Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and other sources is also helping the company extract more materials — and revenue — from the panels.
Sharma said in a statement Tuesday that his company's latest partnership with Runergy will help Solarcycle accelerate its mission to improve sustainability in the solar supply chain.
"We look forward to working with the Runergy team to help grow solar in America, create good, family-sustaining local jobs, and reduce carbon emissions across the supply chain," Sharma said.
