Solahart Gold Coast finds surprise use for used solar panels

Where do used solar panels go after being removed from the roofs of homes and businesses? One Gold Coast company has a surprising answer.

A Burleigh Heads company has found an innovative way to recycle used solar panels – by sending them to disadvantaged communities in Nigeria.

Solahart Gold Coast, which is headed up by Daniel Kelly, has teamed up with Alight Project founder Tina Ali for the project, which not only provides much needed solar energy to Nigeria but extends the life of solar panels.

“As part of this program, we redistribute working solar panels from Australia to communities in need in Nigeria,” Ms Ali said.

“They use the panels to power basic lighting and to charge devices such as phones, computers and tablets - ultimately anything that can be charged from the sun.

“Helping to supply solar power to charge these devices allows communities in Nigeria to stay connected and provides the tools to foster work and education.”

Ms Ali, who has family in Nigeria, collects the panels in a Gold Coast warehouse and then loads them into shipping containers to send to West Africa.

Ms Ali said many Nigerian communities were impacted by unreliable or limited access to electricity and in some instances, villages have no power at all.

“I witnessed first-hand how unreliable the electricity in many of the villages was and solar power in Nigeria is far too expensive for most. I knew that here in Australia many of the solar panels that get replaced could still be used, so I reached out to my local Solahart dealer to see what we could do,” she said.

The Solahart Gold Coast team, led by Daniel Kelly (third from right), at their Burleigh Heads premises.

In Australia, while the lifespan of solar panels is upwards of 10 years, it is common that panels replaced during upgrades are still in excellent working condition.

Mr Kelly said that while it was not possible to reuse these panels to power Gold Coast homes due to government standards, they could still be used to power essential appliances – such as those used in the communities in Nigeria.

“We have been storing the working solar panels for years looking for ways to reuse them as we appreciate the high quality value of them,” Mr Kelly said.

“I have always found it a shame that these panels couldn’t be reinstalled on homes in Australia.

“ … When Tina came into our Solahart Gold Coast dealership back in November 2020 and proposed the idea of rehoming working solar panels to communities in need in Nigeria, I couldn’t have been more excited by the idea of putting these great working panels to good use, and we have continued our partnership ever since.

“I’d love to see this redistribution program expanded to more places globally that could use these panels most.”

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Originally published as Solahart Gold Coast finds surprise use for used solar panels