R2: Reduce and Reuse
Keeping PV Panels out of Waste Streams
A real-world test of refurbished panels
Across Australia, growing volumes of solar panels are reaching the end of their first life. In most of the cases, these panels are either sent to landfill or shipped offshore. Panels sent overseas are not tested for safety or performance, raising concerns that we may be sending waste or even hazardous materials to developing countries.
The R2 Project tackles this challenge by focusing on two key strategies:
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Reduce – encouraging the procurement of higher-quality, longer-lasting panels from the outset.
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Reuse – giving older panels a second life through careful refurbishment and testing.
In order to assess the suitability of reused panels for continued use, we have developed an outdoor monitoring station to expose refurbished panels to real world conditions. This website provides regular, public-facing, performance reporting of the output of the refurbished panels.
Acknowledgements
With assistance from the ACT Government under the Renewable Energy Innovation Fund.
Based [in part] on data obtained through SPOTS, Solar PV Outdoor Testing System at Australian National University. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which SPOTS operates, the Ngunnawal people, and pay our respects to elders past and present.
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Refurbished panels are packed and ready for delivery from PV Lab to the installation site at ANU
Construction of the array installation is underway on the roof of the ANU building
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Panels are installed and data gathering has commenced - see results below!
Baseline Panel Data
Panel Performance Data
The panels have been installed and generating since October, and this analysis covers until end of January 2026. This page summarises their performance. The total energy produced by the panels in the project is shown below. Panel R2-006 has the highest energy, as expected given it also has the highest power rating. Similarly, R2-015 is the lowest energy as expected given its low test power.
Intermittent outages of R2-018 and R2-019
Panels R2-018 and R2-019 have experienced intermittent outages. This is caused by a loose cable gland and internal connection. The internal connection issues have been improved by tightening the cable gland, but the connection still is intermittent. On a test system such as this where each panel is on an individual maximum power point tracker high open circuit voltage is less of an issue which reduces the risk of internal arcing caused by connection failure. It is likely these panels will remain intermittent as the connection issues are not fully resolved.