Shyam Rungta of Regain Energies Solutions Pvt. Ltd. On Building India’s Solar PV Recycling Ecosystem
Regain Energies highlights its role in solar panel recycling, material recovery, and circular economy development
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.
