Brett Henderson, CEO of Solar Panel Recycling (SPR), speaks with pv magazine about certification standards, recovery economics, and argues that some reuse channels are effectively exporting solar waste overseas.
Silver makes up roughly 0.5% of a solar cell’s mass, yet accounts for 47% of its recycling value, according to a May 2026 research paper on PV recycling in Science Bulletin – an imbalance that dictates much of how recyclers approach end-of-life panels. SPR, whose North Carolina operation grew out of a two-decade-old electronics recycling company, has spent years developing its solar recycling process around those economic realities. With a key solar recycling certification deadline looming in January 2027, CEO Brett Henderson spoke with pv magazine about where SPR stands, how the company thinks about recovery rates, and what he is seeing in reuse markets.
pv magazine: Where does SPR’s North Carolina facility stand with regard to R2V3 Appendix G? Are you fully certified, mid-audit, or working toward a target date ahead of the January 2027 deadline?
Brett Henderson: SPR was formed out of a parent company that was an R2V3 and e-steward certified electronics recycler in business for about two decades … My concerns about that in the solar industry is solar modules are basically a singular line item … they’re more or less negative value to process because it’s mostly glass composition. So our concerns with the R2V3 on the solar side, even though we fully support it and have been abiding by it for about 16 years on the parent company side, is that the Appendix G still allows the recycling to be outsourced while someone carries that certification … the glass needs to be recovered cleanly, not commingled and recovered by that certified company in-house … At the moment, we’re kind of to be determined on the R2V3 in our North Carolina facility … So our compliance team, by the direction of myself, is kind of basically we have up until 2027 to kind of decide if we want to, you know, get it to that appendix.
