Why We Need a Circular Economy to Tackle Climate Change
As the world continues to fight climate change, renewable energy has played a vital role in reducing global Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, experts ...
Posts by Year
2023
What is the Linear Economy?
In 2023, a global impact organization, Circle Economy, reported a staggering figure: the global economy today is only 7.2% circular [1]. While the concept of...
What is a Circular Economy?
Today, we live in a world driven by a linear economy based on a “take-make-waste” approach. With the earth’s resources being depleted at an unprecedented rat...
Solar Incentives and Waste Regulations — South Africa
South Africa is one of Africa’s largest solar PV markets, reaching an installed PV capacity of 5.8GW in 2021[1]. In recent years, the country has been gearin...
Solar Energy Landscape — Africa
Africa has abundant sunshine, with most regions enjoying over 300 days of sunshine per year[1]. But how much solar potential does the continent have, and wha...
Photovoltaic (PV) Module Waste Regulations — Australia
In recent years, Australia has seen a sharp increase in solar installation. In fact, 12% of Australia’s electricity came from solar in 2021[1], the highest a...
Public and private Initiatives to Address Photovoltaic (PV) Modules Waste — Japan
Since the introduction of the feed-in-tariff (FIT) system in 2012, Japan has seen a sharp increase in solar installations. While PV-specific waste regulation...
Photovoltaic (PV) Module Waste Regulations — Japan
Japan is expected to generate a large volume of PV module waste in the coming decades. The country is projected to become the third largest contributor to PV...
Solar Revolution in Fukushima — Tomioka Revitalization Mega Solar Power Plant SAKURA
Photograph taken by the author (during the visit to Tomioka Revitalization Mega Solar Power Plant SAKURA on February 16, 2023)
The Renewable Energy Revolution in Fukushima
Eleven years have passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in 2011. At magnitude 9.0, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake was the large...
Industry-led Initiatives to Address Photovoltaic (PV) Modules Waste — The United States
The United States is among the countries facing a looming solar waste problem. While PV-specific regulations do not exist on the U.S. federal level, the sola...
Photovoltaic (PV) Module Waste Regulations — The United States
The United States is expected to generate 10 million tonnes of PV waste by 2050, making the country the second largest contributor to PV waste after China[1]...
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Modules Waste Regulations — The European Union
The European Union has been a pioneer in recycling end-of-life PV modules. In this post, we will look at the European Union’s regulatory framework to address...
Recycling Photovoltaic (PV) modules
Reusing and recycling PV modules are crucial in making the solar industry more circular and sustainable. While some PV modules still have useful life left up...
Reusing Photovoltaic (PV) modules
While the typical lifetime of a PV module is 25-30 years, there are cases where PV modules get decommissioned from PV systems before they reach their end-of-...
End-of-life Options for Photovoltaic (PV) Modules
As countries accelerate their shift to renewable energy and install more solar energy systems, some crucial questions arise: What would happen to all these P...