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Removal and Returns

End-of-Life & Battery Return Pathway

For removal, replacement and warranty-return jobs: state and territory agency pages on PV modules, inverters and batteries, the Commonwealth's stewardship status, the ADG Code and manufacturer battery return pages.

Sources listedReviewed September 2026Our methodology

Links and scope only. Moving a removed lithium battery is per the ADG Code and the manufacturer's return instructions linked below; this page restates neither. Disposal costs, levies and rebates are on the agency pages, not here.

Wattbench does not recommend any recycler, collector or carrier, and does not assess or rank products.

Commonwealth stewardship status

Where a scheme or pilot is described, its status is quoted from the page as it read on the day it was opened. A page dated before today may have been overtaken; the live page is the record.

  • Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

    Solar panels

    The Commonwealth's National Solar Panel Recycling Pilot and its work with the states and territories towards a future product stewardship scheme for solar panels.

    Status, in the page's words: “The model for the scheme is not finalised.”

    • PV modules

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 24 April 2026

  • Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

    Product stewardship schemes and priorities

    The department's list of current mandatory, co-regulatory and accredited voluntary product stewardship schemes. When checked it named no scheme for PV modules, inverters or home batteries.

    • E-waste generally

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 18 June 2026

  • Environment Ministers' Meeting (published by DCCEEW)

    Environment Ministers' Meeting Communique, 27 March 2026

    Ministers' agreement that NSW will lead an interjurisdictional working group on a national product stewardship scheme for end-of-life solar panels, and whether PV system batteries belong in it.

    Status, in the page's words: “It will also consider whether to include photovoltaic system batteries in the scheme.”

    • PV modules
    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 27 March 2026

By equipment

States and territories whose confirmed pages name each equipment type
EquipmentNamed on a confirmed page in
PV modules
Inverters
Lithium batteries

A state missing from a row has no confirmed page naming that equipment, which says nothing about its rules. Open the state's section and the agency page.

Australian Capital Territory

ACT

  • ACT Government City Services

    Solar panels (Recyclopaedia)

    Where solar panels can be taken in the ACT, by panel type, at the territory's resource management centres.

    • PV modules

    Opened 27 September 2026

  • ACT Government City Services

    Batteries (Recyclopaedia)

    Battery disposal in the ACT, including its statement that household solar battery energy storage systems are not accepted at ACT resource management centres and that the original supplier is the first contact.

    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026

New South Wales

NSW

  • NSW Environment Protection Authority

    Product stewardship schemes

    The NSW mandatory product stewardship regulations for solar panels and for batteries: which products each covers, and when each commences. The page places inverters and solar panel energy storage systems outside the solar panel scheme.

    Status, in the page's words: “The Regulation will commence at some time in 2028.”

    • PV modules
    • Inverters
    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 20 September 2026

Northern Territory

NT

  • No current official page confirmed; contact the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority.

    The NT EPA's website answered every request on 27 September 2026 with a browser check that the link check cannot pass, so no page could be read and no address is registered here.

Queensland

QLD

  • Queensland Government

    Waste policy and legislation changes

    Recent changes to Queensland's waste regulation, including a 2025 amendment that changed how solar panels are classified as waste.

    • PV modules

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 2 July 2026

  • Queensland Government

    Solar panel and home battery recovery pilots

    The state-funded pilots that tested collection and recycling pathways for household solar panels and household solar batteries, with their final reports.

    • PV modules
    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 22 December 2025

South Australia

SA

  • Environment Protection Authority South Australia

    Waste disposal

    EPA SA's disposal guidance, including the e-waste section that states South Australia's e-waste landfill ban and lists the categories it names; check that list against the equipment being removed.

    • E-waste generally

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 2 July 2026

Tasmania

TAS

  • No current official page confirmed; contact the Environment Protection Authority Tasmania.

    Agency homepage

    Opened 27 September 2026

Victoria

VIC

  • EPA Victoria

    Electronic waste

    How EPA Victoria defines e-waste, which it says includes photovoltaic panels and batteries, and its statement that Victorian landfills are not able to receive e-waste.

    • PV modules
    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 9 May 2025

  • Solar Victoria

    How to manage end-of-life solar PV

    Solar Victoria's page for retailers and installers on the e-waste landfill ban, which it says covers PV panels, inverters and energy storage equipment, and on exporting used panels.

    • PV modules
    • Inverters
    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 22 July 2026

Western Australia

WA

  • Western Australian Government

    E-waste to landfill ban in WA

    WA's e-waste landfill ban: the page lists batteries among regulated e-waste and says the initial phase does not include solar panels.

    • PV modules
    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 17 September 2026

  • Western Australian Government

    E-waste to landfill ban frequently asked questions

    Questions on who the ban applies to and what it covers, including a pointer to the ADG Code for moving lithium batteries.

    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 1 July 2026

Transport: lithium battery consignments

Packing, marking, labelling and paperwork for a removed or returned lithium battery are per the ADG Code and the manufacturer's return instructions for that product, below. Wattbench does not summarise either.

  • National Transport Commission

    Australian Dangerous Goods Code

    The Australian Code for the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road & Rail, the national code for moving dangerous goods, which governs a lithium battery consignment.

    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026

Manufacturer returns: lithium batteries

Only brands with a Wattbench fault library, and only pages the manufacturer publishes openly. Where no page could be confirmed the brand says so. Listing a brand is not a view on its products.

Enphase

Enphase fault library

  • Enphase Energy

    Return Merchandise Authorization Procedure — Australia

    How an RMA is requested in Australia and how the defective unit goes back to Enphase. It covers Enphase products generally and does not name IQ Batteries.

    • Products generally

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 7 January 2022

FoxESS

FoxESS fault library

  • FoxESS Australia

    Battery Warranty Policy (AU), version 2.7

    FoxESS's Australian battery warranty; its warranty claim process section covers the installer's RMA form and shipping the faulty product back.

    • Lithium batteries

    Opened 27 September 2026 · page dated 15 March 2026

  • FoxESS Australia

    Warranties

    FoxESS Australia's warranty documents by product, where the current battery warranty is published.

    • Lithium batteries
    • Inverters

    Opened 27 September 2026

GoodWe

GoodWe fault library

Huawei

Huawei fault library

  • No current official page confirmed; contact Huawei through its Australian solar support channel.

    Agency homepage

    Opened 27 September 2026

Sigenergy

Sigenergy fault library

Sungrow

Sungrow fault library

  • Sungrow Australia

    Warranty Claim Procedure

    How a claim is lodged, how the RMA number is issued and how the faulty unit is returned to Sungrow. The steps are written around inverters; the packaging guide covers batteries.

    • Inverters

    Opened 27 September 2026

  • Sungrow Australia

    Packaging Guide

    How Sungrow wants returns packed, including batteries, and the dangerous goods paperwork its service team supplies when a pickup is booked.

    • Lithium batteries
    • Inverters

    Opened 27 September 2026

Tesla

Tesla fault library

  • No current official page confirmed; contact Tesla through its Powerwall support channel.

    Tesla's website and energy document library answered every request on 27 September 2026 with Access Denied, so no page could be read and no address is registered here.

Warranty worksheet

Every code in the manufacturer fault libraries carries a Manufacturer / escalation handoff: a de-identified outline of the fault, the documented product and firmware range, the evidence gathered and the one question left for the manufacturer. It takes no customer, site or contact details, and the serial number goes only into the manufacturer's own support channel. Open the code the equipment showed, then the handoff under it, before starting a return.

Keep the removal with the job: the battery backup playbook and the commissioning evidence pack cover the record around it.

Every link on this page was opened and read on 27 September 2026. Opening a link records nothing.

Key takeaways
  • Links to each state or territory agency's own page on e-waste and disposal for PV modules, inverters and batteries, with a clause on what each page covers; states without a confirmed page say who to contact.
  • Stewardship schemes and pilots are described only in the words of the Commonwealth or state page, with the date that page carries.
  • Moving a lithium battery is per the ADG Code and the manufacturer's return instructions, which are linked rather than restated. No recycler, collector or carrier is recommended.

How it works

Each entry is a page an agency, the Commonwealth, the National Transport Commission or a manufacturer publishes. Every link was opened and read before it was listed, and the entry says in one clause what the page covers. A state or brand whose page could not be confirmed says so and names who to contact, with their homepage only where that was opened too.

  • Scope, not rules. A landfill position is mentioned only where that state's own page states it. No packing, labelling or transport instruction is restated, and no cost, levy or rebate is given.
  • Stewardship. A scheme or pilot is described only in the words of the page, with the date that page carries.
  • No recommendations. No recycler, collector or carrier is named, and no product is assessed. For independent product scores, see review.solar.

Removal work happens on site, so the page travels offline with the battery field work pack. The linked pages themselves need a connection.

A list of links, not a disposal, transport or warranty instruction: the agency, the ADG Code and the manufacturer's own return instructions are the record. Nothing on this page is entered, sent or saved.

Source ledger24 sources

Best next action

Battery Backup Did Not OperateDo this nextSolar and Battery Commissioning Evidence PacksGuide

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Frequently asked

Does this page tell me how to pack or send a lithium battery?
No. A consignment is per the ADG Code and the manufacturer's return instructions for that product, both linked here. The page names the Code and links it without restating any part of it.
Is a solar panel or battery stewardship scheme running?
The page quotes each scheme's or pilot's status from the Commonwealth or state page that describes it, with the date that page carries. It makes no claim of its own, so open the live page for the current position.
Which recycler or collector should I use?
Wattbench does not recommend recyclers, collectors or carriers. Start with the manufacturer's return instructions for a warranty return, and the state or territory agency page for disposal.
Which replacement battery should I fit?
This page does not assess or rank products. review.solar publishes independent product scorecards, and the Equipment Status Check links to the live listing and recall pages for an exact model.
Is anything I do on this page saved?
No. There is nothing to enter. The page is a list of links, and opening one records nothing.
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