New Delhi [India], July 13: India’s renewable energy transition is accelerating rapidly, with solar power emerging as one of the country’s most important clean energy sources. Across the country, solar parks, rooftop installations, and manufacturing capacities are expanding at a fast pace. While this growth is essential for reducing dependence on carbon-based energy, it also brings a new responsibility: managing solar photovoltaic modules responsibly at the end of their life.
For Shyam Rungta, Director of Regain Energies Solutions Pvt. Ltd., one question sits at the heart of India’s renewable energy transition: What happens to solar panels once they reach the end of their lifecycle? He believes the country’s clean energy ambitions can only be truly sustainable when equal emphasis is placed on responsible recycling, resource recovery, and circularity alongside renewable power generation.
Regain Energies Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a Surat-based, CPCB-authorised solar PV recycling company, is working to strengthen India’s emerging solar waste management ecosystem through compliant and environmentally responsible recycling solutions. The company specialises in processing end-of-life, damaged, rejected, and manufacturing-scrap solar PV modules, enabling the recovery of valuable materials including aluminium, silver, silicon, copper, and glass. By advancing resource recovery and circular economy practices, Regain seeks to minimise environmental impact while helping preserve critical raw materials for the country’s rapidly expanding renewable energy sector.
Seeing Opportunity in Solar Panel Recycling
For Rungta, the decision to enter solar PV recycling came from a simple but powerful realization: every solar panel installed today will eventually become end-of-life material. India is adding solar capacity at scale, and the country must be prepared for the lifecycle responsibility that comes with this growth.
“Renewable energy cannot be truly sustainable if we do not plan for what happens at the end of its life,” Rungta believes.
Rather than looking at old solar panels as waste, Regain Energies views them as a future source of industrial raw materials. Solar modules contain valuable materials including aluminium, glass, copper, silicon, and silver. If these materials are recovered responsibly, they can reduce dependence on virgin mining, support domestic manufacturing, and contribute to a circular economy around renewable energy.
This perspective is central to Regain’s mission. The company is not only focused on waste handling but on creating value from end-of-life renewable energy assets.
India’s Solar Recycling Industry Is Still Evolving
India’s solar PV recycling ecosystem is still at an early stage. Awareness is increasing, regulations are evolving, and manufacturers, developers, and asset owners are beginning to recognise the importance of responsible end-of-life management. However, the infrastructure required to support large-scale solar recycling is still developing.
According to Rungta, India has a major opportunity to build a complete circular value chain for solar panels. This includes collection, reverse logistics, safe transportation, scientific processing, advanced material recovery, and the reuse of recovered materials in industry.
Such an ecosystem can create employment, reduce environmental damage, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and position India as a leader in renewable energy circularity. However, several challenges must be addressed to make this possible.
According to Rungta, the sector requires stronger aggregation mechanisms, end-to-end traceability, standardised recycling technologies, commercially viable resource recovery models, and greater awareness among solar asset owners to ensure responsible disposal of decommissioned panels. He believes recycling can achieve meaningful scale only when material flows are formal, transparent, and supported through coordinated policy and industry participation. Regain’s efforts are centred on building a compliant and scalable solar PV recycling ecosystem encompassing responsible collection, reverse logistics, safe processing, traceability, and the recovery of valuable materials such as aluminium, silver, silicon, copper, and glass. The company is simultaneously expanding its recycling capacity and operational infrastructure to address India’s rapidly growing solar waste management requirements.
Over the next decade, Rungta believes the industry must move beyond basic disposal and towards high-value resource recovery. This shift will determine whether solar recycling remains a compliance activity or becomes a strategic industry for India’s circular economy.
Resource Recovery Supports India’s Circular Economy
One of the biggest advantages of solar PV recycling is the recovery of valuable materials such as silver, silicon, copper, aluminium, and glass. These materials have economic and industrial value and can be brought back into the production cycle instead of being lost through landfilling or informal disposal.
For India, this is especially important. As the country expands its renewable energy capacity, it also needs to reduce import dependence and improve resource security. Recycling can help create a secondary raw-material ecosystem and support domestic manufacturing.
Rungta sees this as a form of urban mining — recovering useful materials from end-of-life products instead of extracting them only from natural resources. In the case of solar panels, this approach can help conserve resources, reduce waste, and support India’s circular economy goals.
Solar power reduces emissions during electricity generation, but true sustainability must consider the full lifecycle of the product. That includes raw material sourcing, manufacturing, usage, and end-of-life recovery. By recovering materials from solar PV waste, companies like Regain Energies are helping close the loop in the renewable energy value chain.
Building a Commercially Sustainable Recycling Business
Developing a commercially viable recycling business in a young industry is not easy. Regain Energies has had to work through challenges related to technology, regulation, material availability, process development, and supply-chain creation.
Unlike mature recycling sectors, solar PV recycling in India does not yet have fully established benchmarks or widely standardised commercial models. Different types of material — such as end-of-life panels, rejected modules, broken cells, laminates, and manufacturing scrap — require different handling and processing approaches.
Regain has responded to these challenges by investing in technology, building operational flexibility, strengthening compliance systems, and developing industry partnerships. The company has focused on improving recovery efficiency while ensuring that environmental responsibility and commercial sustainability go together.
For Rungta, the goal is to build a model that is practical, scalable, and responsible. Recycling must not only meet regulatory requirements but also create real economic value from recovered materials.
Policy and Regulation Will Shape the Industry
Government policy will play a critical role in shaping the growth of solar PV recycling in India. Extended Producer Responsibility, e-waste management frameworks, and sustainability-linked regulations are already pushing companies to think more seriously about end-of-life responsibility.
Rungta believes that a clear and consistent regulatory framework will give formal recyclers the confidence to invest in technology, capacity, and infrastructure. It will also help prevent informal handling and unscientific disposal, both of which can damage the environment and reduce the value of recoverable materials.
To accelerate the industry, India needs stronger traceability systems, clear recycling standards, transparent EPR mechanisms, incentives for advanced material recovery, and support for research and development. Collaboration between policymakers, manufacturers, recyclers, and research institutions will be essential.
Most importantly, Rungta believes solar PV recycling should not be viewed only as a compliance requirement. It should be seen as a strategic national opportunity linked to resource security, green manufacturing, and circular economy development.
Innovation Will Drive the Next Phase of Recycling
Innovation will be essential for making renewable energy recycling more efficient, scalable, and economically viable. Technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, advanced material recovery processes, and data analytics can transform the sector.
Automation can improve safety, speed, consistency, and scalability in dismantling and material separation. Advanced thermal, mechanical, and chemical processes can improve the recovery of valuable materials such as silver, silicon, and copper. Data analytics can support traceability, batch-level tracking, yield improvement, and operational decision-making.
Artificial intelligence and digital tools can also help recyclers identify material composition, optimise process parameters, and improve plant performance over time.
For Regain Energies, technology is a long-term differentiator. The future of recycling will not depend only on machinery but also on process intelligence, material science, compliance discipline, and data-led operations.
“Companies that combine innovation, compliance, and material recovery capabilities will define the future of renewable energy recycling,” Rungta believes.
Partnerships Are Essential for Building the Ecosystem
A circular economy cannot be built by one company alone. It requires collaboration across the value chain, including manufacturers, EPC companies, developers, asset owners, logistics partners, recyclers, policymakers, and research institutions.
Regain Energies works with industry stakeholders to build responsible end-of-life solutions for solar PV waste. These partnerships are important for improving collection systems, creating traceability, standardising processes, and building confidence in the recycling ecosystem.
Rungta believes that collaboration will play a central role in scaling the industry. Manufacturers and asset owners must ensure responsible channelisation of solar waste. Recyclers must invest in compliant and efficient recovery systems. Policymakers must create clear frameworks. Research institutions must support innovation and technology development.
Only when these stakeholders work together can India build a strong, transparent, and scalable solar PV recycling ecosystem.
Looking Towards the Future
Over the next five years, Regain Energies plans to strengthen its position as one of India’s emerging circular economy companies for the renewable energy sector. The company’s priorities include scaling solar PV recycling capacity, improving material recovery efficiency, expanding its reverse logistics network, and investing further in advanced recycling technologies.
Regain also sees opportunities in other renewable energy and clean-tech waste streams, including battery recycling and allied material recovery segments. The broader vision is to create an integrated platform for responsible recycling, resource recovery, and circular manufacturing.
For Rungta, solar PV recycling is not just about waste management. It is about building a system that can recover value, reduce environmental impact, support domestic industry, and help India achieve its clean energy goals responsibly.
As India’s renewable energy sector continues to grow, the need for end-of-life solutions will become more urgent. Regain Energies aims to play a meaningful role in that transition by building a recycling ecosystem that is compliant, technology-driven, commercially viable, and aligned with India’s circular economy ambitions.
