DON’T THOSE SOLAR PANELS JUST BECOME JUNK WHEN THEY STOP WORKING?

Moves are afoot to stop this. Victoria recently banned sending solar panels to landfill, and an increasing number of companies are now specialising in recycling the components of panels, including the aluminium railing, copper wires and glass.

“Pretty well all solar panels have a 20-year manufacturer’s warranty, and most will operate for 25 and 30 years,” Mr Thornton said. “A lot of [Australia’s] three million panels went in over the last two to five years.”