Zambia’s solar success comes with toxic waste risk

Africa's renewable energy revolution needs careful management to avoid a toxic waste crisis, to prevent people from burning and burying old solar panels.

A lack of effective management means that more than a million old solar panels, containing potentially toxic materials, have been broken up, burnt or buried in Zambia, new research from the University of Reading has found.

The researchers say this shows the need for more careful life cycle management of renewable technology in Africa so that one environmental crisis is not averted at the expense of another.

Solar power is helping to transform lives across rural Zambia, providing light and electricity to communities previously reliant on wood fuel. But University of Reading researchers studying solar panel disposal practises in Zambia found more than one million devices sold between 2018 and 2022 have already stopped working. Over 90% could be repaired, but rural areas lack repair services.

The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, found counterfeit products flood the market and accelerate the problem. Rural buyers cannot distinguish real solar panels from fakes, which copy brand names with slightly different spellings. Genuine devices tend to last 6-10 years, while counterfeits have been known to fail within 2-3 months.

Hillary Chanda, is the lead author of the study from the University of Reading.

He said: "Solar energy has brought real benefits to rural communities, but we're now replacing one environmental problem with another. Communities dispose of broken panels unsafely because nobody taught them about the dangers. People throw panels in pit latrines, burn them, or repurpose them as makeshift battery chargers. Dangerous solar panel disposal can cause fires and explosions.

"Zambia has no policies for solar waste. Communities need repair shops and safe disposal sites, borders need to block fake imports, and people need education in languages they understand."

Chinese imports

In Zambia, counterfeit items are commonly nicknamed “Chinese products” because many electronic and non-electronic counterfeits originate from China and flood the market.

One focus group participant interviewed as part of the study said: “The Chinese (counterfeit) solar systems don't come with warranty/guarantee. Many of us have bought these systems which have parked up just after a few days..."

Hillary Chanda said: “The Chinese manufacturing sector produces for both high- and low-income consumers, offering products of varying quality. However, due to widespread poverty, especially in rural areas, people tend to choose the cheaper, lower quality options. Businesses and shops also stock these products because of the high demand driven by low prices.

“Unfortunately, local institutions lack the capacity and funding to effectively address the problem of counterfeit goods in the country, which makes the issue even more pervasive.”

Notes to editors:

Chanda, H., Mohareb, E., Peters, M., & Harty, C. (2025). “The solar E-waste challenge: A zambian case study of informal disposal, counterfeit technologies and low literacy”. Journal of Environmental Management, 395, 127618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127618

Hillary Chanda is a PhD student at the University of Reading studying Renewable Energy Management and Adoption in Rural Communities in Zambia.

Studies and articles recently published by Hillary Chanda include:

The Conversation - Solar power in Zambia: ‘If it works for my neighbour, I’ll try it too’

"Energy transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policy recommendations for charcoal trade, solar PV adoption, and sustainability in rural Zambia" - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114936

“The African clean energy-deforestation paradox: Examining the sustainability trade-offs of rural solar energy expansion in Zambia” - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2025.104389