Solar energy has become a leading solution to meet the increasing energy demand of growing populations. Solar photovoltaic technology is an efficient option to generate electricity from solar energy and mitigate climate change. Although the development and growth of solar photovoltaics has had a positive impact on energy system decarbonization, but end-of-life solar panels might become toxic waste if not properly disposed of. Presently in India, approximately 200,000 tonnes of solar photovoltaic waste are expected to be produced by 2030 and 1.8 million tonnes by 2050, by which time solar waste could grow to 60 million tonnes globally. Solar waste has recently been included in the category of waste electrical and electronic equipment to restrict the negative influence of continual development. Recent advancements have been focused only on increasing the efficiency of solar photovoltaic panels without considering the impact of waste solar panels on the environment and the issue of appropriate disposal of waste panels. Effective and ecofriendly methods for recycling end-of-life waste are rarely considered. There is a need to critically investigate and manage the disposal and recycling of solar panels waste. This review article addresses handling and recycling of solar waste, which will be present in large quantities after 25 years. We review multiple adopted technologies to recycle solar waste and technological advancement achieved while recycling photovoltaic waste. Further life cycle assessment of recycling technologies is also discussed.

太阳能已成为满足不断增长的人口日益增长的能源需求的主要解决方案。太阳能光伏技术是利用太阳能发电和缓解气候变化的有效选择。尽管太阳能光伏发电的发展和增长对能源系统脱碳产生了积极影响，但如果不妥善处理，报废的太阳能电池板可能会变成有毒废物。目前在印度，预计到 2030 年将产生大约 200,000 吨太阳能光伏废料，到 2050 年将产生 180 万吨，届时全球太阳能废料可能增长到 6000 万吨。太阳能废弃物最近被纳入废弃电气电子设备的范畴，以限制持续发展的负面影响。最近的进展只集中在提高太阳能光伏电池板的效率上，而没有考虑废弃太阳能电池板对环境的影响以及废弃电池板的适当处置问题。很少考虑回收报废废物的有效且环保的方法。有必要严格调查和管理太阳能电池板废物的处置和回收利用。这篇评论文章讨论了太阳能废物的处理和回收，这些废物将在 25 年后大量出现。我们回顾了多种回收利用太阳能废物的技术，以及在回收光伏废物的同时取得的技术进步。还讨论了对回收技术的进一步生命周期评估。