What is the name of your organization?
Engineers Without Borders Australia and Raw Material (Partnership)
What is the name of your solution?
Circular Solar
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Recycled solar infrastructure powering climate-resilient community agriculture and skilled jobs
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Melbourne
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Australia
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Australia faces a wave of solar panel decommissioning, with between 50,000 and 100,000 metric tons of solar waste annually. Many panels retain functional capacity but lack reuse pathways. Meanwhile, Timor-Leste's coffee farmers rely on diesel or manual power. Redirecting decommissioned Australian panels to Pacific agricultural communities solves both problems.
What is your solution?
In Australia, we are establishing Circular Solar, aggregating decommissioned solar panels, conducting initial performance testing and grading, and coordinating logistics and technical training for redeployment into climate-resilient agricultural infrastructure systems. The Hub will partner with Australian sources of secondary solar panels to collect panels, perform electrical safety and output testing, and categorise modules suitable for secondary use. It will deliver centralised training in diagnostics, microgrid assembly, and operations and maintenance, building a skilled workforce pathway aligned to distributed renewable infrastructure. We will partner with a university who will support the testing, validation, and research of redeployed solar panels while integrating this work into their applied engineering programs to build practical renewable energy skills among students.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
The solution serves two interconnected groups. First, in Australia, it serves emerging renewable energy workers seeking pathways into circular energy infrastructure work. By facilitating solar panel identification, diagnostics, and transportation, the Hub creates skilled job pathways and builds capability in renewable asset reuse. Second, it serves smallholder agricultural communities in remote, climate-vaffected regions, like the Pacific. In Timor-Leste, coffee is grown by over one-third of the population and provides up to 80% of household income for some families. Yet farmers face low productivity, diesel dependence, and limited access to reliable electricity.
