Rapid Five-Year Repowering of Photovoltaic Power Plants in Demanding Climates: Effective Clean Recycling and Disassemblable PDMS Gel Encapsulation to Reduce the Environmental Impact

Photovoltaic (PV) plants are typically assessed using ~25-year financial horizons and 25–30-year module performance warranties. However, experience from demanding climates shows that actual lifetimes can be shorter and that dry-condition insulation tests may underestimate risks under wet operation. In such cases, repowering after roughly five years can restore energy yield and reduce operational faults, but it also creates repeated waves of waste and increases manufacturing demand. This study synthesizes evidence on moisture-induced insulation loss, backsheet degradation, and delamination-driven failure escalation and complements it with a transparent 30-year scenario comparing module replacement every 5, 10, and 30 years. The findings suggest that humidity-dependent ground-impedance deterioration, frequent inverter trips, delayed morning start-up, and shutdown risks can emerge within about five years at challenging sites, while dry testing may fail to capture these issues. In a severe scenario, five-year repowering requires six full module sets over 30 years, significantly increasing waste volumes and pressure on manufacturing and recycling systems. Therefore, PV sustainability assessments should reflect the effective repowering interval rather than nominal warranties. Promising solutions include repowering-ready, disassemblable module designs, such as those using soft PDMS gel encapsulation.