Led by RMIT University and funded through the Australian Government's Clean Energy Supply Chain Diversification Program (CESCD000086), the Building Resilient Indo-Pacific Solar Panel Reuse and Recycling Networks project addresses a critical and underserved challenge in the global energy transition: the responsible reuse and recycling of end-of-life solar panels at regional scale across the Indo-Pacific. RMIT was awarded a competitive grant to establish this transnational network, assembling a consortium of chemical engineers, materials scientists, circular economy researchers, industry innovators, and policy analysts spanning Australia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and the United States. Australian partners include Second Life Solar and J.R. Hammer, both active in domestic solar recovery operations, alongside technology provider Universal Vortex Industries. Indo-Pacific and international partners include SolarBK (Vietnam), TSGC Technologies (Taiwan/California), Jahangirnagar University (Bangladesh), RAND Corporation (USA), and ICLEI Oceania, with RMIT Vietnam serving as a critical in-country research node. Research and consulting partners are working to characterise end-of-life panel streams, validate material recovery processes, and develop the commercial and policy frameworks necessary to anchor durable regional supply chain infrastructure for recovered solar materials, including silicon, copper, aluminium, and polymers.

This project sets itself apart from others with the integration of a purpose-built mobile solar testing rig (co-developed by Second Life Solar and the CSIRO) as a deployable diagnostic tool capable of triaging end-of-life panels at scale into reuse and recycling streams. The rig, currently operated in Australia, is scheduled for pilot deployment in Vietnam in 2027, enabling cross-jurisdictional validation of reuse pathways in a high-volume Indo-Pacific context. Panels identified for recycling will be processed through TSGC's fully mobile PV recycling unit called the PV Circulator. Recovered materials returned to RMIT for laboratory characterisation and quality assessment. An Indo-Pacific PV supply chain map, co-produced at a multi-partner workshop in Sydney in May 2026 and integrated into ArcGIS as a living analytical resource, provides the spatial and systems intelligence underpinning the project's feasibility and business case work. These activities will be captured over the course of the project and presented in a final report covering performanc metrics, economic viability assessments for scaling from pilot-to-production scale operations, regional deployment strategeis for commercial actors, and evidence-based invetment pathways for goivernment and private investors.