Solar cycle today announced details of the solar panel recycling facility that will be built adjacent to the glass factory in Cedartown, Georgia. The 255,000 feet2 The recycling facility will have the capacity to recycle 2 million solar panels every year – almost 5 GW in total.
SolarCycle will employ more than 1,250 workers in the recycling facility and glass manufacturing unit once both locations reach full capacity.
“As Georgia continues to lead the nation in attracting jobs from emerging industries, we are grateful that SolarCycle is ramping up the creation of these opportunities in northwest Georgia, benefiting that entire region’s economy,” said Governor Brian Kemp.
“We are pleased to accelerate our work in Cedartown, Georgia, in response to the continued demand for solar energy recycling. By scaling up solar glass recycling and production through a vertically integrated process, we are filling a critical gap in the U.S. solar supply chain and closing the loop on domestic solar production,” said Suvi Sharma, CEO and co-founder of SolarCycle.
To support the acceleration and expansion of SolarCycle’s circular economy campus in Cedartown, the company welcomes Microsoft to its roster of strategic investors, including Fifth Wall, HG Ventures, Prologis Ventures, Closed Loop Partners and Urban Innovation Fund.
The Georgia plant will introduce SolarCycle’s next-generation recycling process, which will have the capacity to recover up to 99% of PV materials and is optimized for bifacial silicon panels. The recovered materials from this recycling facility will be processed into new solar glass at the adjacent facility and sold directly back to U.S. solar manufacturers.
The Cedartown plant joins SolarCycle’s other recycling facilities in Texas and Arizona. The Georgia plant should be operational by mid-2025. The glass factory should start production in 2026.
