Recycling Solar & BESS Summit

Thursday 8 October 2026

08:30

Registration & welcome coffee

Start your day energized. Arrive early to collect your event badge and network over morning coffee and refreshments before the sessions kick off.

09:15

Opening words

presentation

10 min.

Victor Georgescu

Solarplaza

Session 1

The strategic landscape (policy, economics & law)

09:25

The European reality check on solar & BESS decommissioning

presentation

20 min.

For twenty years, the European solar and energy storage industries treated recycling as a distant challenge to be solved "somewhere down the line." That line has arrived. This opening keynote delivers an authoritative call to action on the systemic challenges facing asset managers, EPCs, and investors. From cross-border regulatory loopholes to the lack of standardized decommissioning reserves, it outlines why current industry practices fall short and provides a roadmap for transforming compliance into a long-term competitive advantage.

How the confluence of massive repowering, early module failures, the upcoming new WEEE Regulation, and the new EU Battery Regulation strains European EoL infrastructure.
The reputational and legal risks asset owners face if end-of-life assets end up improperly processed or illegally exported outside the EU.
The friction points between national Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) and why cross-border asset transfers demand standardized compliance frameworks.
Defining what a "bankable, audit-proof" end-of-life strategy looks like for multi-megawatt portfolios today.

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Jan Clyncke

PV CYCLE

09:45

Economics of EoL: can the EPR fee ever be zero?

presentation

20 min.

A provocative financial analysis challenging the status quo. Can the raw material value of solar assets eventually offset the cost of recycling, driving the producer fee to zero? And what structural conditions would need to be in place for that to happen?

Commodity price trends for Silver (PV), Copper (Inverters/Cabling), and Steel/Aluminum (Mounting BOS) vs. logistics and treatment costs.
The "tipping point" for profitable recycling without subsidies.
Preparation for reuse vs. material recovery.
How fragmented national EPR implementations distort the "true cost" of EoL across the full system scope.

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Maarten Dubois

Deloitte

10:05

Turning compliance into competitive advantage: how EPR drives value

panel

40 min.

This panel explores the strategic transition from mandatory compliance to commercial opportunity. Experts debate how proactive engagement with EoL, planning, and EPR schemes can enhance asset bankability, optimize insurance and financing terms, and drive long-term project value.

Making end-of-life a consideration that enters the project from day one, not from year twenty-five.
Does a robust, documented circularity strategy increase asset resale value or improve refinancing terms?
How circularity lowers insurance premiums and long-term liability.
Are current schemes delivering the industrial ROI they promised?

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moderator

Jan Clyncke

PV CYCLE

Eric Ruyters

Eucobat

Tim Moolhuijsen

Eneco

Thies Peters

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)

10:45

Morning networking break

Session 2

Operational realities (logistics, BESS & inverters)

11:30

The “heavy lifting” duo: BESS safety and high-value inverter harvesting

presentation

30 min.

A synergistic session covering the two most critical "non-panel" assets. One expert covers the high-stakes safety of BESS decommissioning, while the other references the high-revenue potential of inverter harvesting, followed by a joint Q&A on integrated logistics.

BESS: Fire safety protocols and "Black Box" discharge logistics.
Inverters: Extracting high-value PCBs/copper and the refurbishment market.
Synergy: Can you use the same logistics partners for both hazardous (BESS) and non-hazardous (Inverter) waste?

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Johan Van Peperzeel

DoorVeen

Ullrich Didszun

UDZ Consult

12:00

The secondary market dilemma: trading, warranties, and compliance

panel

40 min.

When a developer repowers an aging solar-BESS hybrid asset or swaps out battery racks early, where does the hardware actually go? While second-life trading is widely promoted as a circular solution, the commercial reality is fraught with testing costs, warranty disputes, and severe regulatory loopholes. The panel debates these friction points of the secondary market.

Navigating OEM warranty expirations, third-party repair rights, and performance liabilities when redeploying used BESS racks or PV modules.
Real-world failure rates, testing costs, and the tipping point where testing and refurbishing hardware becomes less profitable than direct shredding.
How secondary market trading across European borders disrupts Extended Producer Responsibility frameworks.

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moderator

Lianne van Aagten

Kennedy Van der Laan

Malte Fislake

Reiling PV-Recycling

Stefan Wippich

SecondSol

Johan Van Peperzeel

DoorVeen

12:40

Networking lunch break

Use the long networking lunch break to grab a bite, reconnect with industry peers, and meet our partners and exhibitors.

Session 3

Innovation and future-proofing (tech, data & design)

14:10

Green Energy: Brown Ending or Silver Lining? The solar industry's end-of-life problem and how we're solving it

presentation

20 min.

Without scalable, high-efficiency recycling technologies, the rapid growth of photovoltaics risks creating a massive waste bottleneck across Europe. This presentation addresses the critical gaps in current end-of-life PV management, cutting through the high-level circularity rhetoric to deliver an operational deep dive into industrial raw material recovery.

The technical and logistical friction points asset owners face during utility-scale site repowering and decommissioning.
How high-yield material extraction offsets processing costs and alters the gate-fee landscape for large asset owners.
Integrating advanced material recovery into standard O&M, asset management, and EPC workflows.

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Petra Schmigalle

SOLAR MATERIALS

14:30

The big question: to reuse or to recycle?

presentation

20 min.

Case studies from executed repowering projects: When a PV module or component reaches the end of its first life, the decision between refurbishment and recycling is rarely straightforward. What are the technical thresholds, financial logic, and market conditions that determine whether an asset gets a second life or goes to the shredder?

What performance benchmarks determine reuse eligibility, and who sets the standard?
Who underwrites a refurbished component, and on what terms?
Analyzing the demand for second-hand PV assets and its interactions with the recycling economics.

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Serge Noels

14:50

Design for circularity vs. 20+ year lifetime

panel

40 min.

A dynamic debate on the tension between durability and circularity. As manufacturers push for longer operational lifespans, does "ruggedised" design make reuse and recycling harder? We explore the manufacturer’s dilemma, seeking to balance asset longevity with end-of-life recoverability.

Does making a product last 30 years make it structurally incompatible with disassembly at end-of-life?
Designing mounting systems and power electronics for easy separation and second life.
Balancing the CAPEX of new gear vs. the OPEX of old gear.
Bridging the gap between academic circular design and the commercial pressures of a competitive manufacturing market.

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moderator

Germain Castermans

PV CYCLE

Ruiqi Hua

JA Solar

Elina Bosch

Becquerel Institute

Christina Maria Huber

SolarPower Europe

15:30

Afternoon networking break

Session 4

Global markets (trade, standards & roadmap)

16:15

North America's first solar EPR program: lessons from Alberta for Europe

presentation

20 min.

In Q3 2026, Alberta became the first jurisdiction in North America to ban solar panels from landfills and launch a fully funded EPR program. This session draws on the direct operational experience of building a solar recycling business from scratch in a market lacking prior infrastructure, facing extreme climate conditions, and managing millions of legacy panels.

How Alberta's EPR framework was structured: fee design, legacy panel coverage, and the role of ARMA as program administrator.
Mobile processing technology: bringing the factory to the field, processing a panel every 30 seconds, and the economics of recovered materials.
What European recyclers and policymakers can learn, and what European regulation prevents that North America currently permits.

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Dan Carrocci

Sunset Renewable Asset Management

16:35

The 2030 roadmap: bridging the gap between policy and industrial reality

panel

40 min.

A "town hall" style closing debate, inviting the full value chain to identify the single most important change that must happen before the industry reconvenes in 2027. Moving beyond diagnosis, this panel is structured around actionable commitments.

What is the single biggest structural barrier to a functioning EoL market in Europe today?
How do we align O&M, finance, and recycling incentives so that EoL planning becomes standard practice rather than an afterthought?
Creating a unified EU standard for "End of Waste" by 2030.
What would it take for EoL management to appear as a standard line item in every project finance term sheet within five years?

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