On January 8, 2025, Leapton Energy Co., Ltd. (Leapton) announced a partnership with Niimi Solar Company Co., Ltd. (Niimi Solar) to advance research on the horizontal recycling of solar panels—a process that enables recovered materials to be reused in the production of new panels.
The two companies aim to promote their new service, Kaettekuru Sustaina Panel (還ってくるサステナパネル), which translates to “Sustaina Panel – A Panel That Comes Back.” The service, available through Niimi Solar, includes a buyback guarantee for solar panels, ensuring their repurchase when they reach the end of their lifecycle. For instance, retired panels will be treated as valuable resources and repurchased when they are no longer needed due to performance degradation or damage from natural disasters. The acquired panels will be dismantled and recycled using Niimi Solar’s Sakumoto Thermal Decomposition System, a patented technology that utilizes high-temperature steam to vaporize and decompose encapsulants and resin sheets without combustion or carbon dioxide emissions. Niimi Solar claims this is the only technology in the world capable of extracting high-purity glass, solar cells, and copper wiring without degradation.
Niimi Solar, in conjunction with Okayama University, is currently conducting research on recycling extracted materials into new solar panels. Leapton will offer research-use solar cells to further these efforts. The two companies ultimately seek to establish the PV Reborn Park (PVリボーンパーク), an industrial zone dedicated to the research and horizontal recycling of solar panels.
