On July 4, 2024, Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (Chugoku Electric Power), Chuden Plant Co., Ltd. (Chuden Plant), Cocco Co., Ltd. (Cocco), and Sunada Co., Ltd. (Sunada) announced a business partnership to promote the reuse and recycling of used solar panels.
As part of the partnership, the companies will develop solar power plants using reused solar panels, supply electricity, and recycle discarded panels as valuable resources. Cocco and Sunada will manage the collection, transportation, and sorting of discarded panels from households, businesses, and solar power plants. Chuden Plant will procure reusable panels and oversee the design, construction, and maintenance of power generation facilities incorporating various panel types. Chugoku Electric Power will supply customers with electricity generated from these facilities. Non-reusable panels will be processed using dedicated recycling equipment.
The initiative has been selected as a demonstration project, “Construction of Reused Power Plants Utilizing Solar Panels of Various Specifications” (Japanese: 様々な規格の太陽光パネルによるリユース発電所の建設), under Hiroshima Prefecture’s FY2024 Waste Reduction and Recycling Facility Development Subsidy (Research and Development) program (Japanese: 令和６年度広島県廃棄物排出抑制・リサイクル施設整備費等補助金（研究開発）).
With a significant number of solar panels expected to be discarded in Japan in the 2030s, fostering demand for reused panels is crucial to building a robust circular economy while advancing solar panel recycling technology. Initiatives like this could help drive sustainable demand for reused solar panels.
