Supporting Renewable Energy Market Growth through the Circular Integration of End-of-Use and End-of-Life Photovoltaics

Erika Marsillac
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Erika Marsillac: Department of Information Technology, Decision Sciences, and Maritime and Supply Chain Management, Strome College of Business, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-9

Abstract: Energy demand continues to grow with the world’s burgeoning population. Meeting energy needs through renewable sources allows for market growth with limited environmental impact, but sourcing constraints can limit production, creating industrial and environmental problems. The exploitation of end-of-use and end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) options that are traditionally treated as waste offers a valuable opportunity to support renewable energy market growth with fewer sourcing constraints and minimal environmental impacts, but this circular investment has not yet been broadly implemented, nor is broad guidance widely available to aid its implementation. From a business perspective, this paper discusses the technical issues, assesses the anticipated market growth issues, and proposes a combination of circular economy, industrial ecology, and process integration principles to contribute a theoretically supported, practical framework to improve the management of end-of-use/life PV products and support renewable energy market growth.

Keywords: photovoltaics; end-of-life; recycling; renewable energies; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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