The same is true with wind. Imagine tens of millions of obsolete wind turbines in 20 or 30 years, the blades removed, and the towers abandoned in place blighting the landscape as far as the eye can see. The blades cannot be recycled are and buried. It really irks me that you cannot open a surface coal mine without posting a huge reclamation bond to restore the site to it's former virgin condition before mining, yet you can bury hundreds of tons of concrete and steel for each windmill and not pay a dime to restore the site when they wear out.
Orben said the economics of the process don’t make a compelling case for recycling. Only about $2 to $4 worth of materials are recovered from each panel. The majority of processing costs are tied to labor, and Orben said even recycling panels at scale would not be more economical.
So you have nothing left of value when they are worn out. These days, you cannot buy a car battery, paint, engine oil, or tires without paying a "disposal fee" that is supposed to deal with the waste at the end of the products' economic lifetime. Why aren't such fees applied to these highly toxic solar panels?
Don't answer. That's a rhetorical question. We all know the answer.
On Big Island there are crews that maintain windmills so they keep spinning. They produce zero electricity and spill toxic oils from the gear box but they keep them spinning cuz, muh green enrgies.