India's renewable power increase 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 through Getty Photographs India will get loads of daylight all year long, which makes solar energy extremely environment friendly

India's fast photo voltaic power enlargement is extensively hailed as a hit. However with no plan to handle the waste it should 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 giant photo voltaic parks, tens of millions of rooftop methods now feed energy into the electrical energy grid. Authorities information present almost 2.4 million households have adopted photo voltaic underneath a subsidy scheme.

Photo voltaic development has lower 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 largely recyclable, made from glass, aluminium, silver, and polymers - however hint poisonous metals like lead and cadmium can pollute soil and water if mishandled.

Photo voltaic panels usually final about 25 years, after which they're eliminated and discarded. India at present has no devoted price range for solar-waste recycling and only some small services to course of previous 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 through Getty Photographs Thermal energy vegetation proceed to dominate India's power era capability

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

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

"Most of India's giant 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 world patterns: the US could generate 170,000–1 million tonnes and China almost a million tonnes by 2030, following fast photo voltaic enlargement within the 2010s.

The coverage panorama, nevertheless, differs considerably.

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

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

Consultants say enforcement is uneven, particularly for house 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 Occasions through Getty Photographs Broken and ageing rooftop panels are hardly ever recycled

"Solar energy provides an phantasm of unpolluted 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 atmosphere professional Sai Bhaskar Reddy Nakka.

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

"As waste rises, so will the demand for firms that know the way to 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 - could 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 valuable metals are misplaced, broken or extracted in tiny quantities.

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