A new recycling plant operated by the Czech company RecPan in Příbram began operations in mid-October, processing photovoltaic panels into raw materials and reducing the mass destined for landfills by over 90 percent. As Seznam Zprávy reported, the facility handles up to 7,000 tons of solar panels annually, equivalent to roughly 500 to 700 thousand individual units, utilizing automated robotic arms and heavy-duty shredding technology to recover valuable elements like aluminum, silicon, and silver.
Industrial Facility Processes Tons of Solar Waste in Příbram
The recycling plant occupies a reconstructed 1980s industrial hall in Příbram, where incoming solar panels accumulate while awaiting processing. According to RecPan General Manager Tomáš Kende, the facility currently holds roughly 700 to 800 tons of material. The primary partner supplying the plant is the REsolar collective recycling system, which serves large and small market players across the Czech Republic while the company simultaneously holds talks with German and Italian firms. While many panels arrive clean, workers occasionally clean items that have gathered moss or dirt after sitting outdoors for extended periods without maintenance.
Robots and milling equipment separate panel materials
Pallet trucks move incoming panels to a robotic arm that feeds them onto a processing line unit by unit. In the initial phase, a robot automatically removes and discards the junction box containing the cables. A second robotic arm cuts away the aluminum frame before milling equipment strips the glass from the panel. Remaining materials pass through a series of crushers and vibrating devices that grind them into a fine powder and sort them by weight and properties. The facility operates on two shifts with a staff of six workers per shift, though operations can expand to night shifts or weekends if volume increases. RecPan invested single-digit millions of euros into this initial setup, with plans to expand similar plants into other European countries.
Aluminum and silver drive recovered material revenues
Operating costs and revenues are driven by material yields, with aluminum frames, silicon, and silver serving as the most valuable recovered commodities. RecPan sells recovered aluminum at market rates, contrasting with clean material fetching around 70 crowns per kilo against 30 crowns per kilo for soiled stock. Silver commands roughly 45,000 crowns per kilo, though it appears in the lowest quantities within the panels. Glass presents a persistent economic challenge due to its low market value, and plastics currently require transport to landfills, though the company is investigating potential applications in construction materials. Processed residues are routed to secondary handlers, including Kovohutě Příbram.
Czech facilities prepare for growing global panel waste
RecPan joins existing Czech processing infrastructure, such as the Dekonta facility in Kralupy nad Vltavou—which cooperates with the ČEZ Group and processes 2,000 tons of panels annually—though operators anticipate steady supply due to growing volumes of damaged, weather-affected, or upgraded solar infrastructure. International projections indicate broader supply growth, as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated that global decommissioned panel volumes will exceed millions of tons annually by 2035 and surpass millions of tons annually by 2050, with approximately 12 percent of the cumulative total expected within the European Union.
Společnost RecPan ve čtvrtek spustí provoz svého prvního závodu na recyklaci fotovoltaických panelů v Příbrami. Právě dokončená linka dokáže ročně zpracovat až 7000 tun fotovoltaických panelů. ⤵️ https://t.co/oNa9Xe27g1
What does a solar plant owner need to do?
What does a solar plant owner need to do to recycle their panels?
Property owners only need to unmount the solar panels from their structures. RecPan handles the subsequent transport and issues an official recycling certificate.
How many solar power plants can the Příbram facility process each year?
The plant processes up to 7,000 tons of panels annually, which equates to roughly three of the Czech Republic’s largest solar power plants, such as the Vepřek installation containing 200,000 panels.
What happens to the recovered glass and plastics from the recycled panels?
Glass is sold as a low-value commodity for further processing, while plastics are currently sent to landfills, though RecPan is exploring their reuse in construction materials.