A Blockchain-Enabled Circular Economy: Collaborative Responsibility in Solar Panel Recycling

The adoption of renewable energy resources, such as solar power, is on the rise. However, the lack of recycling facilities for solar panels in particular poses environmental risks. This article suggests a circular economy (CE) approach to address this issue. By implementing blockchain technology, the end of life (EOL) of solar panels can be tracked, and responsibilities can be assigned to relevant stakeholders. The degradation of panels can be monetized by tracking users’ energy-related activities, and these funds can be used for future recycling. A new coin, the recycling coin (RC-coin), incentivizes solar panel recycling and utilizes decentralized finance (DeFi) concepts to stabilize the coin price and supply issue.