Solar Materials Solar Materials GmbH is a silicon photovoltaic (PV) panel recycler founded in June 2021 and based in Magdeburg, Germany. Solar Materials uses a patented thermal mechanical recycling technology to recover PV glass, silicon, silver, and aluminium from end-of-life solar panels. IDTechEx spoke with Franziska Ruff, business development manager at the Metal and Critical Raw Material Exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany in June 2025. Solar Materials