As the global carbon neutrality goal is accelerating, the solar street light industry chain is transforming from the traditional “production-use-disposal” linear model to a “resource closed loop”. To achieve true “zero waste and low carbon”, it is necessary to cover the entire life cycle of raw material acquisition, production and manufacturing, operation and maintenance, and scrap recycling. The following is a systematic solution based on the latest technology and business practices in 2025:

1. Raw material stage: green supply chain construction

Low-carbon material substitution
PV modules: use perovskite batteries (carbon footprint is 50% lower than crystalline silicon), use silver-free electrode technology to reduce dependence on precious metals
Structural parts: recycled aluminum alloy lamp poles (recycling rate > 95%), bio-based plastics replace traditional petroleum-based shells
Case: In 2024, LONGi launched the world’s first “zero-carbon photovoltaic panel”, achieving full-process carbon neutrality through green electricity production + carbon offset
Rare earth element recycling
Establish a “city mine” recycling network for key metals such as gallium and indium in LED light sources, and China’s rare earth recycling rate target in 2025 will reach 85%

2. Manufacturing stage: zero-waste process innovation

Clean energy drive
The factory is 100% green electricity supply (such as Tesla’s Shanghai Super Factory model), with distributed photovoltaic + energy storage system
Data: Tongwei Co., Ltd.’s carbon emissions from photovoltaic module production in 2025 will drop to 0.28kg CO₂/W (1.2kg in 2020)
Waste closed-loop treatment
Silicon waste residue from cutting is used as building materials, and the wastewater treatment and reuse rate is increased to more than 90%
Wacker Chemie develops silane-based polysilicon technology to reduce byproduct silicon tetrachloride emissions

3. Operation and maintenance stage: low-carbon intelligent management

AI energy efficiency optimization
Huawei’s digital energy solution predicts light/traffic through AI, dynamically adjusts brightness, and reduces 30% of ineffective energy consumption
IoT remote diagnosis reduces 80% of manual inspection carbon emissions
Long-life design
Solid-state battery (10-year life) + modular structure, only replaces faulty parts instead of the entire machine during maintenance

4. Scrap recycling stage: full material regeneration system

Photovoltaic panel recycling
Mechanical method (glass/aluminum frame separation) + chemical method (silicon material purification) combined process, recycling value reaches $12/block in 2025
Battery gradient utilization
Retired lithium batteries are converted to household energy storage (remaining capacity 70%), and finally disassembled to recycle cobalt and lithium (Huayou Recycling Technology)
Policy mandatory constraints
EU new regulations require that the recycling rate of photovoltaic modules be no less than 90% by 2030, and China’s “Extended Producer Responsibility System” is piloting Point

5. Business model innovation: Carbon asset value realization

Carbon footprint trading
A single solar street light reduces carbon emissions by about 2.5 tons over its entire life cycle, and CCER carbon sink projects can be developed (carbon price ￥150/ton in 2025)
Service-oriented transformation
“Streetlight as a Service” (LaaS) model: users pay according to lighting effects, and companies bear recycling responsibilities (such as SunPower business cases)
Existing challenges and breakthrough directions
Technical bottlenecks: lead leakage risks of perovskite components, and flexible photovoltaic recycling processes are not yet mature
Cost balance: Low-carbon materials increase initial costs by 15-20%, and costs need to be reduced through scale
Global collaboration: Recycling infrastructure is lacking in developing countries, and a multinational industry alliance needs to be established

Conclusion: In 2025, the solar street light industry has entered the “zero waste and low carbon” critical period, and it needs to use technological innovation as an engine, policies and regulations as a framework, and business models as a link to ultimately achieve a leap from “green products” to “green ecosystems.”