A Multi-Criteria AHP Framework for Solar PV End-of-Life Management

The global growth of solar power has led to a significant increase in solar photovoltaics (PV) waste, which is expected to rise significantly in the coming years. The recommended end-of-life (EOL) management techniques for wasted PV panels include landfill disposal, recycling, or panel reuse. However, a comprehensive decision-making strategy is necessary to assess the appropriate EOL plans from various perspectives, including economic, environmental, sociological, technological, regulatory, and business. This study aims to establish a comprehensive approach for examining disposition alternatives and suggest guidelines for PV EOL management. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to prioritize disposition alternatives for solar PV waste, considering five key criteria: environmental impact, economic viability, social implications, policy and legislative compliance, and technical feasibility. The AHP Aggregating Individual Priorities (AIP) aggregation approach is used to analyze data using a pairwise comparisons matrix. The research indicates that recycling is the most preferred option based on the primary criteria, achieving the highest overall score compared to other alternatives. However, discrepancies were observed in the decisions among individual stakeholder groups and subfactor evaluations. To address these variations, this study provides policy recommendations to guide the sector in adopting optimal decision-making strategies for PV EOL management.