Georgia Plant Now Recycling 5 GW of Solar Panels a Year

A massive recycling facility in Cedartown, Georgia is proving that America's solar panels don't have to become tomorrow's trash problem.

SOLARCYCLE just launched operations at its 255,000-square-foot plant, processing thousands of end-of-life solar panels every week. The facility uses next-generation technology to recover about 96% of the valuable materials locked inside each panel, including silver, copper, aluminum, and glass.

The scale is what makes this a game changer. By 2026, the plant will process 1 million panels annually, with full capacity reaching 5 gigawatts worth of solar panels each year. That's enough to handle panels that once powered hundreds of thousands of homes.

Nothing goes to waste. The company diverts 100% of materials from landfills, extracting precious metals and other components that can be reused. This approach transforms what many saw as an environmental problem into a resource opportunity.

The Georgia facility represents the first industrial-scale solar recycling operation in the United States, moving beyond small pilot projects. SOLARCYCLE's new processing lines deliver more than double the throughput of earlier systems, meeting the growing demand as America's solar installations multiply.

The timing couldn't be better. The Energy Information Administration forecasts that around 70 gigawatts of new solar capacity will come online in 2026 and 2027 alone, boosting total U.S. operating solar capacity by roughly 49%. Every panel installed today will eventually need responsible recycling in 20 to 30 years.

The Ripple Effect

SOLARCYCLE isn't stopping at recycling. The company is building a solar glass manufacturing plant right next to the Cedartown facility, designed to turn recovered materials back into new, domestically made solar glass.

Construction on the glass plant begins in mid-2026, with production starting in 2028. The company has already secured customer commitments for more than 80% of the factory's planned 5 gigawatt capacity, proving strong market demand for recycled solar materials.

This vertically integrated campus creates a closed loop system. Old solar panels arrive at one building, get broken down into component materials, then those materials move next door to become new solar glass for future panels. It's circular economy thinking at industrial scale.

The facility also brings green jobs to Georgia, creating employment in both recycling operations and eventual manufacturing. Workers are handling cutting-edge recycling technology while building expertise in sustainable materials recovery.

As solar power becomes America's fastest-growing electricity source, facilities like Cedartown ensure that today's clean energy doesn't create tomorrow's waste crisis.