Solar power has evolved from an alternative energy source to a global cornerstone, now accounting for 46% of total renewable energy capacity worldwide. If current trends continue, as much as one terawatt of new capacity could be added each year by 2030.

Yet as the first generations of solar panels near the end of their lifespan, a new challenge is emerging: how to responsibly manage the rising volume of retired solar modules.

For Hanwha Qcells, that challenge presents an opportunity. Through EcoRecycle by Qcells — the first U.S. initiative by a crystalline-silicon solar manufacturer to manage the full panel lifecycle — Qcells is advancing the next era of circular clean energy. Strategically located in Georgia, between the company’s Dalton and Cartersville manufacturing complexes, the facility recovers valuable materials from end-of-life panels and reintroduces them into American manufacturing, increasing resource circularity across the solar value chain.

Here’s how solar recycling works — and why circularity is quickly becoming the next frontier in solar sustainability.