Recycling solar batteries

[Babette Gallard]

Hello everyone,

For the past 18 months, I have been working as the Construction Project Manager for Kivulini Maternity Centre in Arusha, Tanzania. The construction is just about finished, and now I'm starting to devote my time to the garden, which I want to make an integral part of the experience of being a patient in the hospital.

My aim is create and ecological and economic model for other institutions of this type to follow, in Africa and perhaps even further afield - using solar and biogas power in what I call the M-sphere.

However, I am particularly concerned about the recycling of the batteries when they have to be renewed in the solar system. I was be grateful for any thoughts or comments.

You can find out more about my project from my blog: An African Hospital Garden.

https://africanhospitalgarden.blogspot.com/

[Rob Beckers]

Hi Babette,

Welcome to the forums!

Lead-acid batteries (the most commonly used batteries) are one of the most recycled items in the world. Lead is valuable, and they are full of lead. On this side of the pond the recycling rate is in the high-ninety percent area, I don't know how it is in your country.

If batteries are not yet being recycled where you are it is an opportunity: Lead really is expensive, it makes sense to recycle them just from that perspective (over here a used L16-sized battery is worth around $30 just to hand it in to a recycler, that alone makes people hand in old batteries).

-RoB-

[Babette Gallard]

No recycling done here, but thanks for the information. I'll see what I can do.

Babette

[Mabel Smith]

Lead Acid batteries which are commonly used in solar panels are the ones that can be recycled also. Lead is valuable and this type of recycling makes it economical and easy to use.