CIRCUSOL
CIRCUSOL stands for “Circular Business Models for the Solar Power Industry”. It is an Innovation Action project funded by the Horizon 2020 program of the European Commission. It brings together 15 partners from 7 European countries to develop and demonstrate business solutions for circular economy in the solar power sector. CIRCUSOL started in June 2018 and will run for 4 years.
Photovoltaic solar power (PV) and electric vehicles (EV) are two key components in the energy transition to tackle climate change. The share of PV and EV on the market continues to rise. An efficient use of resources therefore becomes a critical factor for the success of these sectors in the long run. Circular economy and renewable, clean energy should go hand in hand to guarantee a sustainable transition towards a carbon-free future.
In the H2020 project CIRCUSOL we therefore develop, together with partner organizations, circular business models for the energy sector. The Product-Service System (PSS) business model envisioned by CIRCUSOL will challenge the status quo in a PSS model, a supplier will be a provider of solar power generation and storage to a user as a service. The PV and batteries are installed at the user’s site, but the supplier remains as the owner and is responsible for their optimal functioning.
When their use life at the site reaches the end, the supplier takes them back and decides whether they can get a second life and be installed somewhere else, or should be sent for recycling. Techno-economical efficiency in this evaluation is key. The environmental and financial impacts of the envisioned business models will be evaluated in this project using a parametric life cycle model.
