Decommissioning cost estimator

Model the net cost of taking your system down, including platform savings, resale credits, and material recovery stacked against the teardown bill. Adjust sliders to match your site.

Free · no email required · all assumptions visible and editable below the results.

Decommissioning costs only. This tool covers removing your existing system. If you are planning a repower at the same time, use the Repower Savings tool instead — it includes the decom contract and shows the combined net economics.

Your system

System size: 5 MW

0.5 MW100 MW

System age: 15 years

5 yrs35 yrs

Module condition

Exit type

Opt into geographic bundling

Estimated breakdown

Standalone teardown estimate−$385,000

Platform savings: competitive bids + bundling+$84,700

Module resale · 28% net-to-owner @ $0.030/W+$42,364

Al frame · Cu recovery+$48,412

Est. net cost−$209,524

Est. net cost $209,524, about 46% below a standalone quote.

Silver-age opportunity: Your pre-2015 fleet carries est. $362,250 of additional silver value at full hydrometallurgical recovery. Specialist recyclers on the Renovo marketplace bid on this specifically; actual recovery and credit terms vary by recycler and equipment condition.

Planning a repower? The Repower Savings tool includes the decom contract as a line item and models the full combined economics — output uplift, O&M savings, ITC, and payback — alongside the decom cost.

Standalone vs. Renovo cost

What a single vendor quotes vs. what competitive bidding, bundling, resale, and material recovery deliver through Renovo.

$385k

Standalone
quote

$210k

With Renovo

Standalone teardownPlatform savingsModule resaleMaterial recovery (Al + Cu)

View assumptions & methodology

Teardown cost

Rooftop/panel-only avg $70/kW · full ground-mount avg $95/kW. Sites under 3 MW carry a 28% mobilization premium; 3–10 MW carry 10%. Source: Wood Mackenzie, NREL decommissioning cost studies.

Platform savings

Competitive reverse auction: 12% baseline savings. Geographic bundling adds ~10 pp. Verified against contractor market data from comparable marketplace models.

Module resale (net-to-owner)

Resalable fraction after testing, sorting, and attrition: 28% good · 13% mixed · 4% damaged. Net $/W to owner after testing ($0.01–0.02/W), freight, and handling deductions. Degradation factor applied for modules beyond 10 years.

Aluminum recovery

Panel frames + racking: ~4.5 t/MW rooftop, ~9 t/MW full ground-mount. 90% recovery rate · $2.30/kg Al spot less $0.25/kg processing = $2.05/kg net.

Copper recovery

~200 kg/MW from wiring and busbar. 92% recovery · $9.00/kg spot less $1.50/kg processing = $7.50/kg net.

Silver (specialist recycler)

Vintage-adjusted Ag loading per IRENA/NREL BOM data: pre-2015 ~18 g/panel · 2015–2019 ~12 g/panel · post-2020 ~7 g/panel. 70% hydro recovery · $2,450/kg Ag (May 2026 spot) less ~$150/kg processing. Full recovery requires hydrometallurgical processing, which is not available from all recyclers.

Estimates use published industry averages. Not a quote. Actual outcomes vary by site, vintage, equipment condition, and recycler availability. Tax impacts require CPA review.

Share with your team or CFOCopies a self-contained link with your current inputs.

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How this differs from a real quote

This calculator uses published industry averages to give you a directional estimate before you invest time in an RFP. Actual bids depend on site-specific conditions: racking type, ground conditions, proximity to recyclers, current commodity spot prices, and your readiness date. The numbers on this tool are the same methodology Renovo uses to score and compare live bids, so they carry over directly when you list a system.