Solar panels: recycling - now or later?

Anyone who can - and gets a tradesman's appointment - is buying a photovoltaic system for their roof, balcony or window frame these days, and certainly also for their boat, in order to "generate at least some electricity".

But even a solar panel has an expiry date! This is not printed on the glass surface, but it happens. Either the panel loses performance, has a technical defect, is damaged by hail or other impact, or becomes obsolete due to new developments. The average lifespan of a solar panel is 20 to 25 years. Very few people think about that at the moment! Even if panels were to remain efficiently functional for 40 years - what doesn't happen during half a human lifetime!