India’s renewable power growth faces a hidden waste drawback

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ba4e/live/3e396b80-d5b6-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="AFP via Getty Images An Indian worker sprays water onto panels of India's first 1MW canal-top solar power plant at Chandrasan village of Mehsana district, some 45 kms from Ahmedabad on World Earth Day, April 22, 2012." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> AFP by way of Getty Pictures India will get loads of daylight all year long, which makes solar energy extremely environment friendly

India's fast photo voltaic power growth is broadly hailed as successful. However with no plan to handle the waste it'll generate, how clear is the transition?

In simply over a decade, India has develop into the world's third-largest photo voltaic producer, with renewables now central to its local weather technique. Photo voltaic panels are in every single place - from huge photo voltaic parks to blue rooftops throughout cities, cities and villages.

Alongside massive photo voltaic parks, thousands and thousands of rooftop programs now feed energy into the electrical energy grid. Authorities knowledge present almost 2.4 million households have adopted photo voltaic beneath a subsidy scheme.

Photo voltaic development has reduce India's reliance on coal. Although thermal and different non-renewables nonetheless provide over half of put in capability, photo voltaic now contributes greater than 20%. But the achievement carries a problem: whereas clear in use, photo voltaic panels can pose environmental dangers if not correctly managed.

Photo voltaic panels are principally recyclable, product of glass, aluminium, silver, and polymers - however hint poisonous metals like lead and cadmium can pollute soil and water if mishandled.

Photo voltaic panels sometimes final about 25 years, after which they're eliminated and discarded. India at present has no devoted finances for solar-waste recycling and just a few small services to course of outdated panels.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3f57/live/3428bf80-e095-11f0-a1ce-b7a166f167b0.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Bloomberg via Getty Images A cooling tower and chimneys at the NLC Tamil Nadu Power Ltd. (NTPL) power plant in Tuticorin, India, on Monday, March 18, 2024. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures Thermal energy vegetation proceed to dominate India's power technology capability

India has no official knowledge on photo voltaic waste, however a examine estimated round 100,000 tonnes by 2023, rising to 600,000 tonnes by 2030. For now, the quantity is small, however specialists warn the majority is but to come back - and with out fast recycling funding, India might face a rising waste disaster.

A brand new examine by the Council on Vitality, Atmosphere and Water (CEEW) estimates that India might generate greater than 11 million tonnes of photo voltaic waste by 2047. Managing this may require virtually 300 devoted recycling services and an funding of $478 (£362m) over the subsequent 20 years.

"Most of India's massive photo voltaic parks have been constructed within the mid-2010s, so the actual wave of waste is coming in 10 to fifteen years," says Rohit Pahwa of power firm Targray.

India's solar-waste projections mirror international patterns: the US could generate 170,000–1 million tonnes and China almost a million tonnes by 2030, following fast photo voltaic growth within the 2010s.

The coverage panorama, nevertheless, differs considerably.

Within the US, solar-panel recycling is usually market-driven beneath a patchwork of state guidelines. China's system, like India's, continues to be creating and lacks a devoted regulatory framework.

In 2022, India introduced photo voltaic panels beneath e-waste guidelines, making producers chargeable for gathering, storing, dismantling and recycling them at finish of life.

Specialists say enforcement is uneven, particularly for dwelling and small-scale panels, which make up 5–10% of installations. Although modest, these panels can nonetheless generate substantial waste, as they're more durable to trace, accumulate, and recycle.

Broken or discarded panels typically find yourself in landfills or with unauthorised recyclers, the place unsafe strategies can launch poisonous supplies. The BBC has contacted India's renewable power ministry for remark.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/eca7/live/20ed00e0-d5b7-11f0-88d3-f3714d37a458.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Hindustan Times via Getty Images OIDA, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 4: Flood-affected residents on Noida's Pushta Road installed solar panels in their homes to cope with the darkness, on September 4, 2025 in Noida, India. " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Hindustan Instances by way of Getty Pictures Broken and ageing rooftop panels are not often recycled

"Solar energy provides an phantasm of fresh power for 20 years, however with no critical plan for recycling panels it dangers abandoning a graveyard of modules and never a lot of a legacy," says setting knowledgeable Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka.

Regardless of the challenges, specialists say the issue just isn't with out alternatives.

"As waste rises, so will the demand for corporations that know course of it," Mr Pahwa says.

Environment friendly recycling might reclaim 38% of supplies for brand spanking new panels by 2047 and stop 37 million tonnes of carbon emissions from mining, says CEEW.

India already has markets for glass and aluminium, and metals present in photo voltaic cells - silicon, silver, and copper - might be recovered for brand spanking new panels or different industries, says Akansha Tyagi, co-author of the examine.

At the moment, most photo voltaic waste is processed with primary strategies that recuperate solely low-value supplies like glass and aluminium, whereas treasured metals are misplaced, broken or extracted in tiny quantities.

Specialists say the subsequent decade shall be decisive for India's photo voltaic objectives. The nation should act quick - constructing a regulated, self-sustaining recycling system, elevating family consciousness, and integrating waste assortment into photo voltaic enterprise fashions.