We Recycle Solar names Mostafa Bushehri as chief of staff and capital lead

We Recycle Solar has appointed energy finance strategist Mostafa Bushehri as chief of staff and head of capital formation as the company pursues a $100 million raise for its solar panel recycling network. The move comes as the Arizona company prepares to launch its first end-to-end critical materials recovery facility in Texas in 2027.

Why it matters: - We Recycle Solar is trying to scale a domestic recycling network that could recover valuable materials from retired solar panels instead of sending them offshore or to landfills. - The company is seeking $100 million in institutional capital to fund that buildout. - The effort targets U.S. supply chains for tech, defense and energy materials.

What happened: - We Recycle Solar appointed Mostafa Bushehri as chief of staff and head of capital formation. - Bushehri will lead business development and capital formation strategy. - He will spearhead the company’s $100 million institutional raise. - The raise will support a nationwide network of critical materials recovery facilities.

The details: - We Recycle Solar plans to launch America’s first end-to-end critical materials recovery facility for end-of-life solar panels in the third quarter of 2027. - The first facility is planned for just outside Dallas, Texas. - The plant is designed to domestically recover up to 96% of the silver, copper, silicon, aluminum and glass in end-of-life solar panels. - The facility is expected to produce market-ready critical materials for direct resale. - We Recycle Solar says the process will involve zero offshore processing. - The Texas plant is intended to be the first site in a distributed network of high-efficiency 2.0 processing facilities. - The network is designed to transform solar waste into a feedstock for U.S. tech, defense and energy sectors. - Bushehri previously worked as an investment associate at OneWell, a multi-family office serving impact-driven institutions, foundations and ultra-high-net-worth investors. - At OneWell, Bushehri supported management of more than $500 million in assets under advisement. - He also worked as an analyst at Quantum Horizon Capital, where he led sourcing and due diligence on emerging markets infrastructure and energy opportunities. - Bushehri earned a master’s degree in international finance and economics from Columbia University in New York. - He was a Charif Souki Global Energy Fellow at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy and later joined as a research assistant. - His Columbia work included due diligence on carbon credit markets and analysis of emerging market loans and credits. - Bushehri also served as a graduate consultant for ReNew, the clean energy and decarbonization company listed on Nasdaq as RNW. - He has passed Level I of the CFA Program. - His writing on energy, finance and geopolitics has appeared in Foreign Policy, Sino-Southeast Initiative and Helsinki Geoeconomics Monitor, where he serves as business editor for finance. - In his new role, Bushehri will manage a pipeline of institutional investors, lenders, family offices and strategic partners. - Bushehri will also serve as the company’s operations strategy engine across an expanding multistate network. - That network starts with the Texas facility and includes four additional U.S. locations over the next four years.

Between the lines: - The hire signals that We Recycle Solar is pairing operating buildout with heavier institutional fundraising. - The company is positioning solar-panel recycling as an industrial supply-chain business, not only an environmental service. - The timing also reflects a broader push to capture value from the growing stock of retired solar panels in the U.S. - The company says the U.S. is projected to hold the world’s largest stockpile of end-of-life solar panels behind China by 2050, worth more than $80 billion in recyclable materials. - The company says an estimated 90% of old U.S. solar panels currently go to landfills or offshore processing centers.

What's next: - We Recycle Solar plans to advance the Texas facility toward its third-quarter 2027 launch. - The company will seek investors, lenders and strategic partners for the $100 million raise. - The company also plans to expand to four additional U.S. locations over the next four years. - We Recycle Solar says it has already diverted more than 1 million panels from landfills.

The bottom line: - We Recycle Solar is building a domestic recycling platform around a large and growing waste stream, and Bushehri is being brought in to help finance that expansion.