Solar energy is on course to become the world's largest and cheapest source of electricity. Yet this boom has a downside: the waste it generates from the glass, aluminium, silicon, rare-earth elements, wiring, and power inverters. Because components are glued together, instead of designed for disassembly, 80% of solar panels are paradoxically incinerated as e-waste.
The FAIR-PV project is correcting the design flaw with the world's first fully repairable, refurbishable, and transparently sourced solar photovoltaic (PV) module. The collaboration among AMS Institute, Delft University of Technology, startup Biosphere Solar, and digital traceability firm Circularise are testing how it holds up in real-world conditions — weather, temperature fluctuation, and cloud cover — at AMS Institute’s Innovation Pavilion.
Solar climate goals, less e-waste
Few waste facilities can process the mix of glass, plastic, and aluminium in traditional PV (photovoltaic) panels, let alone recover the valuable silver and silicon they contain. Laminates that bind panels together prevent reuse of components and make recycling prohibitively expensive. Opaque supply chains have offered no visibility into their material provenance or lifecycle performance.
The project’s fair photovoltaics pose an exciting solution. FAIR-PV panels have what conventional panels do not: a fully modular design and a dynamic Digital Product Passport (DPP). The prototypes are built in the Netherlands, and lab tests show they are competitive with current market standards in terms of performance.
FAIR-PV’s panels also support two of Amsterdam’s 2030 climate goals: that solar and wind energy will supply 80% of household energy, and that use of raw materials will be reduced by 50%. An additional 2040 goal mandates that all suitable roofs in the city will be used for generating solar energy. A modular panel has yet to arrive on the market.
Eliminate lamination, elongate the lifespan
The FAIR-PV team believes their version fulfils this greater demand for panels while also taking e-waste into account. They developed a liquid encapsulation layer that replaces current Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) lamination. The latter method bonds glass sheets with heat effectively, but makes them chemically inseparable and useless at the end of their lifespan.
Does the liquid encapsulation approach fare just as well? The team at TU Delft has been testing the performance implications of this approach, and recent findings indicate the panels are as efficient as conventional, EVA laminated, non-recyclable modules.
“The full-sized liquid encapsulated solar module can generate an extra 30 Watts of power from sunlight, compared to our previous modular design, without liquid. Moreover, at the end-of-life, we can retrieve, reuse, and recycle all the components of our solar panel”
Urvashi Bothra, postdoctoral researcher in TU Delft’s Photovoltaic Materials and Devices group
More information on the research can be found here.
A digital layer for physical circularity
Circular hardware such as this requires circular information infrastructure and supply chain transparency. Circularise developed a dynamic DPP in collaboration with TU Delft for the FAIR-PV module that records material composition, manufacturing data and maintenance history across the panel's full lifecycle. This way, manufacturers, recyclers, and refurbishers protect the process but can share data to determine whether a panel should be repaired, refurbished, remanufactured, or recycled. This supports compliance with the EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
“This project moves us from theory to practice. We're not just building a better solar panel; we're building the trustworthy data infrastructure that makes the entire circular economy possible. Circularise provides the missing link between our innovative design and the market's need for verified, actionable truth,” said Maria Alejandra León, Research Manager for Circularise.
The latest FAIR-PV prototype at Marineterrein Amsterdam
From lab to rooftop
The consortium has installed the latest FAIR-PV prototype on the roof of the Innovation Pavilion at Marineterrein Amsterdam — a transition from controlled lab testing to real-world field conditions. The installation allows direct performance benchmarking against conventional panels. A QR code on-site will link visitors to the panel's digital product passport.
“Solar is a key piece in the climate puzzle and key infrastructure in the west,” said Biosphere Solar in their video on why solar panels are so cheap. “And yet 97% of the industry is dependent on China.” Biosphere Solar is manufacturing its ReModule technology in China, which enjoys economic, materials, supply chain, labour, and policy advantages that keep costs low but perpetuate the opaque and wasteful nature of their production.
“We are taking the first steps toward building a circular solar factory line. This not only enables the production of sustainable, repairable panels, but also helps reduce material costs and energy use,” said Zola Fung-A-Jou, R&D production engineer for Biosphere Solar, also an open source company whose design can be replicated by other manufacturers and incorporated into existing production lines.
A closer look at the module
Boosting fair solar production
The EU aims for over 600 GW of solar PV capacity by 2030, a key pillar of the REPowerEU goal. According to a European Parliament briefing, “Achieving these goals will depend on continued commitment to renewable energy deployment, success in addressing a number of challenges, and the ability to unlock the full potential of solar energy in the EU, for instance, by boosting domestic solar production and the use of new technologies.”
Manufacturing partner Kameleon Solar, which specializes in Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), adapted its existing production line to accommodate the circular process. According to Kameleon CTO Büshra Yılmaz Depondt, the collaboration required developing entirely new lamination approaches: "We went back to basics and worked together — the concept can be applied to any production facility."
The FAIR-PV project is funded through the Dutch government's Knowledge and Innovation Agenda for Circular Economy (KIA-CE), with additional partners including the Municipality of Amsterdam, Province of South Holland, AGC, and Amsterdam Economic Board. The project ran through mid-2026.
