Key Facts:
- Australia is approaching 500,000 battery installations, prompting growing questions about what happens to solar panels and equipment at end of life or during system upgrades.
- The NSW Environment Protection Authority has opened consultation on Australia's first proposed mandatory solar panel stewardship scheme, requiring brand owners to take financial responsibility for end-of-life recycling, whilst the federal government has committed $24.7 million to a three-year recycling pilot covering around 100 collection sites.
- Victoria has banned solar panels from landfill outright, and the Smart Energy Council estimates that less than 5 per cent of the four million panels removed from Australian roofs each year are currently recycled, with solar waste projected to reach 91,165 tonnes annually by 2030.
- More than 95 per cent of a solar panel is recoverable - including aluminium, glass, copper, and silicon - though the national infrastructure to process this material at scale has not yet existed, a gap the NSW scheme and federal pilot aim to address.
- Helcro Solar Director Luke Rose urges households and businesses considering upgrades to ask their installer what happens to the old system, noting that responsible disposal should already be standard practice ahead of incoming regulation.
SOUTH MELBOURNE, Australia - TBA - Helcro Solar, a CEC-accredited solar retailer operating in Melbourne for 18 years, says the question it is being asked more frequently as Australia approaches 500,000 battery installations is the one that follows the boom: what happens to the panels and equipment when a system is upgraded or reaches end of life.
The regulatory picture is moving. The NSW Environment Protection Authority opened consultation on 20 September on Australia's first proposed mandatory solar panel stewardship scheme, with submissions closing 16 November 2026. The draft regulation would require solar panel brand owners to take financial responsibility for end-of-life collection, recycling, and resource recovery. At the national level, the federal government committed $24.7 million in March 2026 to a three-year solar panel recycling pilot covering around 100 collection sites and up to 250,000 panels. Victoria has already banned solar panels from landfill outright. The Smart Energy Council estimates four million panels are removed from Australian roofs each year, with less than 5 per cent currently recycled, and projects solar waste to approach 91,165 tonnes annually by 2030.
The practical question for households and businesses considering a system upgrade is what their installer does with the panels coming off the roof. More than 95 per cent of a solar panel is recoverable: the aluminium frame, the glass, the copper wiring, and the silicon cells can all be processed through specialist recycling streams. The challenge has been that the infrastructure to capture that material at scale has not existed nationally. The NSW scheme and the federal pilot are both designed to build it.
"When we remove a system for an upgrade, the panels do not go to landfill. We work with recyclers who process the material properly. That has been our practice for years, but it has not been a legal requirement everywhere, and most people who installed 10 or 15 years ago have no idea what happens to the equipment when it comes down. The NSW consultation and Victoria's landfill ban are pushing the industry toward a standard that a responsible installer should already be meeting. Households and businesses asking about upgrades should be asking their installer what happens to the old system," said Luke Rose, Director of Helcro Solar.
Helcro Solar manages panel removal and responsible disposal as part of its solar installation and upgrade services. The company has operated across Melbourne and Victoria since 2006 and holds CEC accreditation and Victorian electrical contractor licence REC 17462.
About us:
About Helcro Solar
Helcro Solar is an Australian-owned solar retailer based in South Melbourne, providing solar panel installation, battery storage, home electrification, and electrical services to homes and businesses across Melbourne and Victoria since 2006. The company is CEC-accredited, holds Victorian electrical contractor licence REC 17462, and has a 5.0-star Google rating from 72 reviews.
