Waste management within a solar power plant involves the careful handling, recycling, and disposal of materials such as broken solar panels, inverters, batteries, and peripheral equipment. As solar power plants expand across the globe, the role of a Solar Power Plant Operator moves beyond the operational dynamics of renewable energy capture to include a strong focus on waste management and recycling. This article explores how business intelligence and data analytics serve as critical. Solar power has a dark side: panels are still built to be thrown away, and we risk creating a mountain of waste that locks away valuable minerals. JRC scientists estimate current and future amounts, and look into ways to make them part of the circular economy. “Countries with the most ambitious PV targets are expected to account for the largest shares of global PV waste in the future,” the IRENA report reads. Currently, only the EU has. A comprehensive new report from IEA PVPS Task 12 reveals how countries around the world are managing the growing volumes of end-of-life solar modules, implementing regulations and scaling recycling infrastructure to handle the expected increment in PV waste over the coming decades.