Solar panel recycling in Chile: pickup, management and certificate

EcoBaterías coordinates pickup with licensed hazardous-waste carriers and manages the recycling of solar panels anywhere in Chile. Before recycling we test the batch to separate what can still be reused and manage the valorization of the rest with authorized receiving facilities, in Chile or in OECD countries where applicable; the authorized receiving facility closes the SIDREP declaration and issues the valorization certificate for your report under Chile’s Extended Producer Responsibility law (Ley REP, Law No. 20,920) and the targets of Supreme Decree (DS) 22/2025.

Terms used on this page. Recycling means using waste as an input or raw material in a production process (Law No. 20,920, art. 3 No. 23); together with preparing for reuse and energy recovery it makes up valorization (art. 3 No. 30). A waste manager (gestor) carries out waste handling operations and is authorized and registered (art. 3 No. 10). SIDREP is Chile’s national hazardous-waste declaration and tracking system. More terms in the technical glossary.

What does the panel recycling service include?

1. Request and quoteApproximate quantity, technology, condition (whole or broken, with or without frame) and location. We reply within 48 business hours with the quote and packaging instructions.
2. Coordinated pickupWe coordinate pickup with licensed hazardous-waste carriers. Your company issues the declaration document in SIDREP when it ships (DS 148, art. 81).
3. Testing and sortingWhole modules are tested: whatever still works follows the reuse or repair route. Broken modules go straight to recycling.
4. ValorizationWe manage the batch’s valorization with authorized receiving facilities, in Chile or in OECD countries where applicable; the authorized receiving facility closes the SIDREP declaration and issues the valorization certificate.
5. CertificatesTechnical testing report for the batch and a valorization certificate from the authorized receiving facility.

Pickup, packaging and documents are explained in battery and solar panel collection. Every service is listed in services for lithium batteries and solar panels.

Why test before recycling?

Recycling a module that still produces power destroys value. In a repowering, at least half of the removed modules are usually in good enough condition for reuse, according to the European QUASAR project. In an Australian study of 3,749 decommissioned panels, 58% were still fit for a second life, with a median remaining service life of about 12 years. Under Law No. 20,920, preparing for reuse and recycling are both forms of valorization (art. 3 No. 30).

That is why whole modules go through solar panel testing first. Whatever clears the threshold follows the reuse route for decommissioned panels, whatever has a repairable fault goes to repair and the rest is recycled. Broken modules need no electrical test: they go straight to recycling.

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Sources: grades from the EcoBaterías test protocol (our own classification, not a standard) · QUASAR D2.2, 2025 (opens in a new tab) · ANU and CSIRO in pv magazine, 2026-08-19 (opens in a new tab) · Law No. 20,920 (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

Which panels do we handle for recycling?

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Sources: DS 148/2003, List II (opens in a new tab) · Soren (France), sorting by technology (opens in a new tab) · EcoBaterías’ own scope · 2026-09-26

What is recovered from a solar panel?

By weight, a crystalline silicon panel is 76% glass, 10% polymers (encapsulant and backsheet), 8% aluminum, mostly from the frame, 5% silicon and 1% copper, with less than 0.1% silver. That silver, 6 to 10 grams per panel, is the most valuable material per unit of mass.

Across the industry, recycling has three stages. First the aluminum frame, junction box and cables are removed. Then the glass is separated from the laminate: by shredding and screening, with a hot knife at 180–200 °C or by pyrolysis at 300–600 °C. Finally silver, copper and silicon are recovered, usually through chemical processes.

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Published rates come from operators abroad and read as “up to”. Veolia, in France, recovers up to 95% of a panel’s material. First Solar recovers more than 90% of the materials in its CdTe thin-film modules. SOLARCYCLE, in the United States, says it recovers up to 97% of a panel’s value, according to the company (September 2026). In the European Union, the WEEE Directive has covered panels since 2012 and sets a target of 85% recovered, with 80% prepared for reuse and recycled.

Chile has its own track record: six CORFO-funded projects on panel testing, repair and reuse, awarded between 2017 and 2019, which Carlos Jofré documents in his research line on solar panel recycling and reuse (in Spanish) (opens in a new tab).

Sources: IRENA and IEA-PVPS, 2016 (opens in a new tab) · IEA-PVPS T12-31:2025 (opens in a new tab) · Veolia (opens in a new tab) · First Solar (opens in a new tab) · SOLARCYCLE (opens in a new tab) · Directive 2012/19/EU (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

Are end-of-life panels hazardous waste?

According to Chile’s Ministry of Energy, end-of-life or damaged panels are handled in Chile as hazardous waste unless they are declassified under Supreme Decree (DS) 148/2003, mainly because information on their composition is lacking. IRENA reports leachate from panel fragments with up to 11 mg/L of lead, above the 5 mg/L limit of the DS 148 toxicity test (art. 14): classification depends on the test of each model. The Circular Economy in Energy Roadmap plans a public register of non-hazardous brands and models for 2026–2027.

• Transport: only with a health permit from the Seremi de Salud (Chile’s regional health authority) (DS 148, art. 36) and to an authorized receiving facility (art. 27). We coordinate pickup with licensed hazardous-waste carriers.
• Declaration: the waste travels with the declaration document from the moment it leaves your site (arts. 80 and 81).
• Storage: 6 months at most, extendable once for the same period with a technical report (art. 31).
• Management plan: required if your site generates more than 12 kg a year of acutely toxic waste or more than 12 t a year of other hazardous waste (art. 25).

Sources: Ministry of Energy, Roadmap 2026–2030 (opens in a new tab) · IRENA and IEA-PVPS, 2016 (opens in a new tab) · DS 148/2003, BCN (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

How is the pickup declared in SIDREP?

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SIDREP is the electronic version of that document, and registration is requested through the Single Window of the RETC (Chile’s Pollutant Release and Transfer Register). The document switches to “closed” when the receiving facility accepts the waste. The documents for each pickup are explained in battery and solar panel collection.

Sources: DS 148/2003, arts. 80–83 (opens in a new tab) · SIDREP, Ministry of Health (opens in a new tab) · Séché Group Chile, SIDREP declarations (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

A certificate for DS 22/2025

DS 22/2025 of the Ministry of the Environment was published on 2026-05-07 and its collection and valorization targets are enforceable 24 months later, from May 2028. There is no target for photovoltaic panels in the first two years; the target starts at 10% in year three (2030) and reaches 50% from year ten (2037), and it can only be met with panel waste. It is the only target under Law No. 20,920 measured against the estimated waste of each year rather than against what was placed on the market.

Photovoltaic installations above 1 MW will also have to report every year to the RETC, before May 31, the panels in use and their projected waste. Without a document proving how many modules were valorized and where, neither the target nor the report has any backing: that is why every batch closes with the valorization certificate issued by the authorized receiving facility.

Sources: DS 22/2025, Official Gazette, 2026-05-07 (opens in a new tab) · Carey (opens in a new tab) · País Circular, 2026-09-09 (opens in a new tab) · Ministry of the Environment, Res. Ex. 3413/2025 (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

Decommissioning or repowering a plant?

Each megawatt of silicon panels equals between 1,430 and 3,125 modules and between 55 and 83 tonnes, depending on panel power. According to the EcoBaterías Solar Observatory (our own estimate), the flow jumps to 400,000–850,000 modules a year in the years when supply contracts expire, starting in 2030. In those projects it pays to test at the plant, sort by route and remove in stages: we explain how in solar plant repowering.

Sources: our own calculation from the data sheets of JinkoSolar JKM320PP-72 (opens in a new tab) and Trina Vertex N NEG21C.20 (opens in a new tab) · EcoBaterías Solar Observatory, as of 2026-09-11 · 2026-09-26

How do you prepare panels for pickup?

• Keep broken modules apart from whole ones, on separate labeled pallets.
• Do not overstack, throw or dismantle them.
• Lift each module with two people, by the short side and never by the junction box.
• Store them dry, on a flat surface and with nothing on top.
• A module produces voltage under any light; do not handle one with broken glass or exposed cables without protection.

Sources: QUASAR D2.2 (opens in a new tab) · Ministry of the Environment, Res. Ex. 3413/2025 (opens in a new tab) · JinkoSolar, unpacking and storage (opens in a new tab) · JinkoSolar, installation manual (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

How much does solar panel recycling cost?

It is quoted per batch. The price depends on:

• the number of modules and their weight;
• their condition: whole or broken, with or without frame;
• the technology: crystalline silicon or thin film;
• distance and type of transport;
• who does the dismantling.

We do not publish a per-module rate: it would be a number that does not hold up against a real batch. The 22 UF per tonne plus VAT (19%) on the recycling price page (UF is Chile’s inflation-indexed accounting unit) applies to lithium-ion batteries, not to panels. We reply within 48 business hours. Request a quote for your batch.

Coverage and pickup across Chile’s regions

We coordinate panel pickup with licensed hazardous-waste carriers anywhere in Chile, from a single pallet off a commercial rooftop to the batch from a plant in the north. According to the Ministry of Energy, the panel recycling industry is concentrated in the Santiago Metropolitan Region: that is why, for large batches far from Santiago, we propose testing at the plant and moving only what has a defined destination. Conditions by region are in hazardous-waste pickup across Chile’s regions.

Source: Ministry of Energy, Roadmap 2026–2030 (opens in a new tab) · 2026-09-26

Frequently asked questions

Where can solar panels be recycled in Chile?

EcoBaterías manages the recycling of solar panels from companies and rooftop owners anywhere in Chile. We coordinate pickup with licensed hazardous-waste carriers, test the batch to separate what still works and manage the valorization of the rest with authorized receiving facilities; the authorized receiving facility closes the SIDREP declaration and issues the valorization certificate for Law No. 20,920.

Is a broken panel still good for anything?

Not for reuse: a module with broken or cracked glass is not repaired and cannot be installed, under the SEC’s RGR No. 02/2024. For recycling, yes: by weight a silicon panel is 76% glass and 8% aluminum, and it holds 6 to 10 grams of silver. Broken modules go straight to recycling, without an electrical test.

What is recovered when a solar panel is recycled?

The aluminum frame, the glass, the copper in cables and ribbons and, through chemical processes, the silver and silicon in the cells. A specialized European plant, Veolia’s in France, recovers up to 95% of the material. The polymers in the encapsulant and backsheet, about 10% of the weight, are used for example as alternative fuel in cement kilns.

Which document do I receive at the end?

EcoBaterías’ technical testing report for the batch, and the valorization certificate issued by the authorized receiving facility. The shipment is also tracked in SIDREP. Those documents support your Law No. 20,920 report and the DS 22/2025 targets.

Are end-of-life solar panels hazardous waste?

According to Chile’s Ministry of Energy, yes, unless they are declassified under DS 148. That is why they travel with a health permit, are declared in SIDREP and are handed to an authorized receiving facility. IRENA reports leachate of up to 11 mg/L of lead from panel fragments, above the 5 mg/L limit in DS 148.

How much does solar panel recycling cost?

It is quoted per batch, based on the number of modules and their weight, their condition, the technology, the distance and who does the dismantling. We do not publish a per-module rate. The 22 UF per tonne plus VAT price we publish is for lithium-ion batteries, not for panels. We reply within 48 business hours.

Do you recycle rooftop panels or only large plants?

We work by batch. A pallet of modules from a commercial rooftop is coordinated the same way as a batch from a plant; transport and lead time change, and both are agreed in the quote. For whole plants it makes sense to test on site and move only what goes to recycling or reuse.

What does DS 22/2025 require from a solar plant?

It sets collection and valorization targets for panels, enforceable from May 2028: 10% in year three (2030) and 50% from year ten (2037), measured against estimated waste. In addition, installations above 1 MW will have to report every year to the RETC, before May 31, the panels in use and their projected waste.

More answers in the FAQ on lithium batteries and solar panels.

Sources

Updated October 9, 2026 · Reviewed by the EcoBaterías technical team