Subcommittee advances bill requiring large-scale solar panels to be recycled, sets $20 per-panel penalty for landfill disposal

House Bill 320, sponsored by Representative Trey Kelly, would require that panels removed from large, utility‑scale solar power facilities be taken to legitimate recycling facilities rather than disposed in municipal landfills. The bill applies to large commercial solar projects as defined in existing code and does not target residential or small installations, Kelly said.

"When those panels reach their end of life, that we require them to be taken to a solar recycling facility," Representative Trey Kelly said while presenting the measure. Kelly described the bill as a market‑driven approach the state can use to avoid future landfill pressure as solar capacity grows.

Kelly and witnesses cited several figures during the hearing: the state currently has roughly 7,300 megawatts of installed solar capacity, and lawmakers heard an estimate of about 3,600 additional megawatts expected in the next five years, which would raise total capacity to roughly 10,900 megawatts. The sponsor…