Photovoltaic Modules After First Life: Reuse Qualification, Recycling Pathways, and Material Circularity

Rapid photovoltaic (PV) deployment is creating a growing stock of modules that leave first service through aging, failure, repowering, warranty replacement, disaster damage, and economic substitution. The end-of-life challenge is therefore not only how to recycle future waste, but how to determine whether removed modules should remain in service, enter a certified second life, undergo repair and retesting, or proceed to technology-specific recycling and controlled treatment. This critical review integrates evidence from PV reliability and diagnostics, second-life qualification, recycling and material recovery, life-cycle and techno-economic assessment, extended producer responsibility, transboundary governance, and Digital Product Passports. We identify evidence continuity—the persistence of module identity, technical condition, route eligibility, and lifecycle responsibility through transfer—as a key unresolved gap linking reuse with verified closure. On this basis, PV-CircuTrace is proposed as a testable evidence-continuity architecture that distinguishes PASS, FAIL, and UNRESOLVED evidence states, separates reuse qualification from recycling-route assessments, and keeps the module record active until irreversible product termination and downstream material and residue destinations are verified. For resource-constrained markets, credible circularity therefore requires persistent identity, tiered testing, licensed reuse and recycling pathways, and enforceable producer-responsibility mechanisms.