What to do with used or broken solar panels in Chile?

By the Ecobaterías technical teamPublished September 15, 2026Updated September 19, 2026Reviewed by the EPR compliance lead

Test first, decide second. Most modules removed during repowering or after system faults keep a good share of their power and have no safety defects; sending them straight to recycling destroys recoverable value. In Chile a discarded panel is managed as hazardous waste until it is declassified, and Supreme Decree (DS) 22/2025 has already set the target calendar. Ecobaterías tests every module, reuses the ones that qualify with measured power, and recycles the rest.

Source: Ecobaterías Solar Observatory · 2026-09-11

How many panels are decommissioned in Chile, and why

The Ecobaterías Solar Observatory tracks 756 photovoltaic plants in operation in Chile, adding up to 12,884 MW of nameplate capacity and about 34.9 million modules installed, equivalent to roughly 1.0 Mt of material that will reach end of life. Around 6,016 t of broken modules have already been generated.

Source: Ecobaterías Solar Observatory · 2026-09-11

The flow does not arrive all at once. Through 2029 the stream is early and steady — construction breakage, operating faults, warranty claims and accidents — in the order of 55,000 to 80,000 modules per year. The large wave arrives when the offtake contracts of the 2013–2016 plants expire and the flow jumps to 400,000–850,000 modules in expiry years: El Romero in 2030 (776,000 modules), El Pelícano in 2033, Amanecer Solar CAP and Pozo Almonte II+III in 2034, and Javiera in 2035. The first plant to reach technical end of life is Tambo Real, in 2037.

Source: Ecobaterías Solar Observatory · 2026-09-11

The Ministry of the Environment, for its part, estimates on the order of 11,000 t per year of early module waste.

Source: Chilean Ministry of the Environment, estimate of early photovoltaic module waste (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-18

What the law requires

• Ley 20.920 (Chile’s EPR law, Law No. 20,920): a waste hierarchy — prevention, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, disposal — in which preparation for reuse counts as recovery.
• Supreme Decree (DS) 22/2025: published on May 7, 2026, with targets enforceable 24 months later (May 2028). For photovoltaic modules: 10% in the third year (2030) and 50% in the tenth (2037), measured against estimated waste. The detail is in our guide to DS 22/2025 and the EPR targets for solar panels.
• Supreme Decree (DS) 148/2003: until it is declassified, a disused or damaged module is managed as hazardous waste, with limited storage, a licensed carrier and a licensed final recipient.
• Import regime: modules brought in under a customs exemption may carry restrictions on later sale or transfer. Check the regime of the batch before committing to a sale.

Sources: Ley 20.920, Library of the National Congress of Chile · DS 22/2025, Official Gazette (open in a new tab) · 2026-09-18

How much power a used module retains

Manufacturer power warranties usually describe an annual degradation that leaves a ten-year-old module near 90% of its nameplate power and a twenty-year-old one between 80% and 88%. That is a contractual expectation, not a measurement: a real batch mixes modules that beat the curve with modules carrying cell cracks, hot spots or insulation loss that miss it by a wide margin.

That is why testing is done module by module, not by sampling, when the batch is going to be resold: visual inspection, dry and wet insulation tests, electroluminescence to reveal cracks invisible to the eye, and an I-V curve under controlled conditions to measure real power. A module can pass the electrical tests and fail the wet-leakage test: that is precisely the defect you cannot see.

With those results the module falls into one of four classes, the same criterion we apply in used solar module testing and reuse.

Swipe to see the full table

Source: Ecobaterías testing protocol · 2026-09-18

What can be repaired and what cannot

The junction box and bypass diodes, the connectors and cabling, the frame seal and superficial backsheet damage can all be repaired. These are accessory failures, not cell failures, and they return a module to service in minutes.

Broken glass, delamination, cell cracks and severe hot spots cannot be repaired. Those modules go to recycling, where the aluminum frame, the glass and the metals are recovered; the full circuit is described in solar panel recycling in Chile.

Testing takes about 6 minutes per module, and a line processes between 150 and 250 modules per day and shift. That matters for planning: a batch of 10,000 modules is not tested in a week.

Source: Ecobaterías testing protocol · 2026-09-18

How a batch is handed over

1. Inventory. Brand, model, year, quantity, nameplate power and reason for removal.
2. Sample. We test a representative sample to estimate the class distribution before the whole batch is moved.
3. Storage. Modules on pallets, on edge, with separators; broken units on a separate covered pallet.
4. Transport. With a licensed carrier if the batch moves as waste, or as product if it has already been tested and declassified.
5. Result. A report per module, a measured-power label for the reusable ones, and a valorization certificate for whatever goes to recycling.

If you also have end-of-life batteries on the same site, preparing that batch follows different rules: they are in our guide on how to prepare end-of-life batteries for recycling, and the handover circuit is in where to recycle lithium batteries in Chile.

Frequently asked questions

Is a used solar panel hazardous waste in Chile?

Until it is declassified, a decommissioned photovoltaic module is managed under Supreme Decree (DS) 148/2003 as hazardous waste, with limited storage, a licensed carrier and a licensed final recipient. A module that passes testing and is resold as a product is not waste, which is why testing happens before the batch is moved.

How much power does a decommissioned module retain?

It depends on age and failure mode. The degradation curves declared by manufacturers leave a ten-year-old module near 90% of its nameplate power and a twenty-year-old one between 80% and 88%. That is an expectation, not a measurement: real power is only known from an I-V curve, module by module.

What can be repaired on a panel and what cannot?

The junction box, bypass diodes, connectors and cabling, and the frame seal can be repaired. Broken glass, delamination, cell cracks and severe hot spots cannot: those modules go to recycling, where the aluminum frame, the glass and the metals are recovered.

Does reuse count toward Chile’s EPR law?

Law No. 20,920 places preparation for reuse above recycling in the waste hierarchy. Supreme Decree (DS) 22/2025 sets the collection and recovery targets for photovoltaic modules, enforceable 24 months after its publication on May 7, 2026.

What do I receive when I hand over a batch of panels?

A test report per module with its class, a measured-power label for the modules that are reused, and a valorization certificate for the material that goes to recycling. That certificate is what supports your waste reporting.

Updated September 19, 2026 · Reviewed by the Ecobaterías EPR compliance lead