OAKLAND, CA, JUNE 1, 2022 – SOLARCYCLE®, a tech-driven solar system recycling platform, today announced that the company has raised $6.6 million in growth funding from leading renewable energy and circular economy investors – including SolarCity founders Peter and Lyndon Rive, former CEO/CTO of Sunpower Corporation Systems Tom Dinwoodie, Urban Innovation Fund, and Closed Loop Partners.
“At SOLARCYCLE we are driven by the urgent challenge to maximize the sustainability of the raw minerals needed to power the clean energy revolution,” said SOLARCYCLE CEO Suvi Sharma. “It is exciting to have the financial backing of investors who helped launch and scale the solar industry, as well as venture funds specializing in creating the needed infrastructure for the circular economy. This funding will allow us to scale our advanced recycling operations in North America, enabling us to start handling the millions of solar systems that will be retiring in the coming years.”
"Solar energy is the fastest-growing energy source in the U.S.,” said Julie Lein of Urban Innovation Fund. “But with more solar panels comes more waste. SOLARCYCLE has an exciting vision to transform the way we recycle and re-use solar panels – and they have the right team to pull it off. The Urban Innovation Fund is thrilled to back SOLARCYCLE."
"Increasing amounts of solar panels are being replaced with newer versions. The older panels have high value metals like silver, aluminum, and high-grade silicon,” said Peter Rive, Co-founder and CTO of SolarCity. “I invested because SOLARCYCLE has a recycling system that could enable high volume, cost-effective recycling of solar panels at scale."
"I was involved with commissioning the first wave of large and utility-scale solar installations, and I am excited to be involved with SOLARCYCLE,” stated Tom Dinwoodie, co-founder of Sunpower. “I firmly believe the transition to a renewable economy must be coupled with full attention to developing a circular economy for addressing the mineral scarcity and looming waste problem coming our way. The team at SOLARCYCLE is well positioned to turn this emerging problem into an opportunity, and I welcome them bringing their technical insight and innovation to address the recycling needs of the industry. I am confident that their success will ensure a better world for us all."
“We are thrilled to invest in the visionary and accomplished team at SOLARCYCLE as they help build out circular economy infrastructure for the solar industry,” said Danielle Joseph of Closed Loop Partners. “As the demand for solar energy grows with an increasingly urgent climate crisis, it is critical that materials used for solar panels do not go to waste in landfills. SOLARCYCLE has the technology, operational experience and mission-driven passion to help address this emerging and pivotally important challenge at scale. We look forward to seeing them advance their climate-friendly and cost-effective platform to return more than 95% of all the valuable materials back into the solar supply chain.”
About SOLARCYCLE
SOLARCYCLE, Inc (www.SOLARCYCLE.us) is a technology-driven platform designed to maximize solar sustainability by offering solar asset owners a low-cost, eco-friendly, comprehensive process for recycling retiring solar panels and technologies and repurposing them for new uses. The company’s proprietary technology allows it to extract valuable metals such as silver, silicon, copper and aluminum and to recycle or repurpose 95% of panels currently in use. SOLARCYCLE was founded in 2022 by experts in solar technology, recycling and sustainability to accelerate build-out of the circular economy for solar and renewables.
