Effective recycling of materials from solar energy panels has been a continuing challenge, especially because of the toxic lead materials in the panels’ photovoltaic modules. Now research led in part by Meng Tao, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, shows promise for enabling development of a method for recovery of the lead materials from the panels as part of the recycling process. The process is designed to allow recovery of lead after being converted to it metallic form, which will enable the material to sold back to the solar energy industry for safe reuse.