Building one of the world's largest PV markets
India has one of the world's fastest-growing solar photovoltaic (PV) markets, with installed capacity increasing from 35 GW in 2019 to 123 GW by 2025. Utility-scale solar dominates, supported by growing rooftop, commercial and industrial (C&I) and off-grid installations. As most systems are relatively new, large-scale PV waste is expected after 2040, although waste from damaged and replaced modules is already emerging.
India also has a rapidly expanding domestic PV manufacturing industry, creating additional demand for recycling and recovery of valuable materials.
India has introduced several policies to support solar deployment, including the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and PM Surya Ghar. Solar panels are covered under the E-Waste Management Rules (2022), which extend producer responsibility (EPR) to PV modules. While implementation is still developing, the government is working towards a dedicated solar waste framework alongside initiatives to strengthen domestic recycling and critical mineral recovery.
Current PV end-of-life (EoL) practices
- Informal recycling dominates: Most end-of-life (EoL) PV panels in India are handled by the informal sector, primarily to recover valuable aluminium. Formal recycling capacity is growing, but most panels are still stored, dismantled informally or processed through fragmented waste pathways.
- Regulation is evolving: India has introduced guidance for storing EoL PV panels and extended producer responsibility (EPR) requirements, but enforcement remains limited. A dedicated regulatory framework for PV recycling is still under development.
- Infrastructure gaps remain: India's growing domestic PV manufacturing sector creates opportunities for recycling and recovering valuable materials. However, high transport costs and limited recycling infrastructure remain key barriers, prompting interest in decentralised and mobile recycling solutions.
- Environmental risks: Current environmental risks are linked to informal dismantling and the handling of cables, batteries and electronic components. As PV waste grows, improving safe recycling practices and worker protection will become increasingly important.
Market strengths
- Strong policy foundation: PV modules are covered under EPR-based E-Waste Rules, placing responsibility on producers to finance collection and recycling.
- Growing circular business models: Companies such as First Solar operate closed-loop manufacturing and recycling systems to recover valuable materials.
- Innovation and research: Government programmes and industry initiatives are supporting advances in PV recycling technologies and policy.
- Expanding manufacturing base: Domestic PV manufacturing is increasing demand for recycled materials, with estimates suggesting recycling could meet up to 38% of the sector's material demand by 2047.
Market challenges
- Technical: Recycling technologies are still immature, especially for recovering high-purity silicon and silver at scale.
- Economic barriers: High CAPEX and logistics costs, combined with low-value recovery (mainly aluminium), make recycling financially challenging.
- Regulatory gaps: No dedicated PV recycling standard or enforceable EPR targets; weak oversight and storage requirements are impractical and inconsistently enforced.
- Data gaps: Limited spatial data on PV deployment and waste, making infrastructure planning difficult; impact data is largely aggregated under general e-waste.
- Market constraints: Weak downstream markets for recovered materials, particularly silicon, limit commercial viability of recycling.
Opportunities for improvement
Immediate (0–2 years)
- Strengthen national data collection on PV module reliability and failure rates to improve forecasting of EoL volumes and inform infrastructure planning.
- Develop practical guidance on transport, packaging and preventive maintenance practices to reduce premature module damage and extend operational lifetimes.
- Support feasibility assessments for second-life PV applications, including technical standards, market demand and business model viability.
Medium term (2-5 years)
- Promote collaboration between industry, research institutions and recyclers to accelerate development and commercialisation of material recovery technologies.
- Pilot digital product passport systems to improve traceability of PV modules across deployment, reuse and recycling stages.
- Advance development of circularity indicators and technical standards aligned with emerging international and IEC frameworks.
Long term (5+ years)
- Support development of closed-loop material supply chains linking recyclers with domestic manufacturers to increase use of recovered materials.
- Establish material traceability and quality assurance systems enabling recycled materials to re-enter manufacturing value chains.
Priority actions
- Improve national data and forecasting systems for PV EoL: Establish regular monitoring of module performance, failure rates and waste generation to support evidence-based infrastructure and policy development.
- Develop technical standards for reuse and recycling: Introduce nationally recognised standards governing testing, second-life applications, transport, and recycling of PV modules.
- Strengthen skills and workforce capacity: Expand training programmes for safe decommissioning, repair, refurbishment, and recycling across the solar and e-waste sectors.
- Pilot second-life and refurbishment pathways: Support demonstration projects assessing technical feasibility and commercial viability of repurposed PV modules in lower-demand applications.
- Accelerate deployment of digital product traceability systems: Pilot digital product passports or equivalent tracking mechanisms to improve life cycle accountability and compliance with future EPR requirements.
- Support development of domestic recycling ecosystems: Encourage investment in preprocessing and recycling infrastructure aligned with projected waste volumes and manufacturing demand.
- Enable circular material markets within the solar industry: Promote partnerships between recyclers and manufacturers to integrate recovered materials into domestic PV production and reduce reliance on virgin resources.