Solar Panels
Solar panels don’t die.
They get retired
too early. We fix that.
Olital collects retired solar panels worldwide, grades them by performance, and gives the working ones a second life in communities that have never had reliable power.
- US · UK · EU collections
- Any volume
- Reply within 24h
A working panel is a terrible thing to waste.
Solar panels are retired far faster than they fail. Most still produce 70–90% of their original output when they come off the roof — but they’re written off because they no longer meet the performance guarantees a utility needs from a new install.
Meanwhile, 600 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa still live without reliable electricity. Families burning kerosene for light. Clinics without refrigeration. Schools that go dark at sunset.
A retired panel from a US solar farm is, to a household in rural Ghana, a transformation. We don’t think that’s waste. We think it’s a misallocation — and we’re built to fix it.
Same panel. Different life.
Reuse first. Recovery last.
Three deliberate steps that put working hardware ahead of material recovery. A fourth, when reuse isn’t possible.
- 01
Collection
Any volume, anywhere. A handful of panels from a single installer or thousands from a decommissioned farm — we come and get them. For larger volumes we pay for working panels and offset transport against the payment.
Pickup scheduled within 14 days - 02
Performance grading
Panels are tested and graded by output. We separate stock by performance band — what’s still ready to work, what’s borderline, and what’s reached end of life.
Output-graded batches, not bulk estimates - 03
Second life
Working panels matched to vetted in-country partners — installers, NGOs, community projects. We don’t ship to landfills with a logo on them. We ship to people who already have a panel waiting.
Currently active across West Africa
Material recovery — only when reuse isn’t possible.
Panels that can’t be safely reused go to specialist recovery partners. Glass, silicon and metals returned to the supply chain. The floor — not the goal.
If you have retired panels, we want to hear from you.
- Solar farmsEnd-of-warranty replacements
- Commercial propertyRooftop refresh, building decarbonisation
- InstallersCustomer swap-outs, recurring
- Asset managersWhole-site decommissions
- Dealers & brokersUsed inventory needing a home
We pay for panels.
For larger volumes we pay for working panels and offset transport against the payment. Working hardware is an asset — not a disposal cost.
Any volume. Anywhere.
A pallet from one installer, a container from a decommissioned farm. US, UK, EU, further afield. No minimum, no maximum.
Documented, not greenwashed.
Chain-of-custody record: what we collected, how we graded it, where it landed. Evidence for your sustainability team — not vibes.
Where the panels go.
Through our in-country partner network, second-life panels now power:
Homes
Lighting rooms, charging phones, running fridges and fans — often for the first time.
Schools
Classrooms with light after sunset. Computers that stay on. Kitchens running through boarding hours.
Clinics
Vaccine refrigeration. Night-time emergency lighting. Reliable power for diagnostic equipment.
Small business & farming
Workshops, tailors, irrigation pumps, mills — enterprises that lift household incomes when the lights stay on.
The careful version of what others call recycling.
Performance-graded, not eyeballed.
Panels are tested and graded by output. You get a clear picture of which of your batch is still ready to work, which is borderline, and which has reached end of life — not an optimistic guess.
In-country partners, not export-and-forget.
We don’t drop panels at a port and call it impact. Our partners are vetted installers and operators who own the end-user relationship.
Licensed, accountable, traceable.
UK Environment Agency waste carrier (CBDU579018) and registered under T11 — the WEEE repair & refurbishment exemption that allows working panels to be returned to use. Internationally, we work to local regulations through established partners.
Send us your panel count,
location, and rough condition.
We’ll come back within 24h with a collection plan — and, for qualifying volumes, a quote.
- ✓Any volume. Anywhere.
- ✓No obligation, no minimum.
- ✓Working panels paid for at volume.
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