Blockchain-enabled Circular Economy -- Collaborative Responsibility in Solar Panel Recycling

TL;DR

This paper proposes a blockchain-based system with a new coin to promote solar panel recycling within a circular economy, enhancing responsibility tracking and incentivizing recycling efforts.

Contribution

It introduces a novel blockchain framework and a dedicated recycling coin to improve responsibility and incentivize recycling in solar energy deployment.

Findings

Blockchain enables transparent responsibility tracking

Recycling coin incentivizes stakeholder participation

Decentralized finance stabilizes coin value

Abstract

The adoption of renewable energy resources, such as solar power, is on the rise. However, the excessive installation and lack of recycling facilities pose environmental risks. This paper suggests a circular economy approach to address the 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 to stabilize the coin price and supply issue.