As an anecdote, I can tell that I’m still using my shattered solar panels. :)
(Normal people would not, of course.)
One broke during welding because a droplet of molten metal hit it - the hardened glass shattered all over. Another met with a flying plywood sheet during a storm - the plywood went right through with a corner and made a hole.
I use both panels on a wheelbarrow to pump water on the field during flood season. They’re perfect, nobody wants to steal them because they look like they got nuked. :D I worry about the wheelbarrow considerably more. :D
But yes, a recycling plan would be needed. Grinding them up and getting the aluminum back is not too hard, but how to separate the glass from the sealing silicone and doped silicon - I know some folks in Korea do it, but I don’t know how. :o
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