Circular Strategies and Resource Preservation in the Solar Photovoltaics (PV) Industry in the Netherlands

Abstract

As solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment accelerates across Europe, addressing the end-of-life (EoL) challenges of PV modules has become urgent. Circular strategies such as reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling offer a pathway to retain material value, reduce environmental impact, and increase strategic autonomy. However, their implementation in the Dutch solar PV industry remains limited. This thesis investigates how circular strategies can enhance resource preservation in the Dutch PV industry, applying a multi-level perspective (MLP) to structure insights from literature review, document review and insights from 20 expert interviews. The results reveal that many barriers are systemic. Economic viability, driven by low module prices and a lack of financial incentives, emerged as the most prominent constraint. Design limitations, certification hurdles, and fragmented data infrastructure further hinder reuse and repair business models. Notably, current policy frameworks such as the Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive remain focused on recycling, neglecting higher-order R-strategies. At the same time, several enabling conditions are emerging. Geopolitical developments, such as raw material dependency concerns, hold potential to reshape the institutional landscape through circularity goals and regulatory momentum with instruments such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and Digital Product Passport (DPP). The discussion identifies four cross-cutting themes: the importance of geopolitics and manufacturing, the need to prioritise repair, refurbishment, and remanufacturing business models, value chain engagement and information sharing and transparency and the future vision of the PV industry. These insights indicate that the circular transition in solar PV is not hindered by technological barriers alone, but by misaligned incentives, weak coordination, and underdeveloped governance structures. The thesis concludes that enabling circular strategies in the Dutch solar PV sector requires proactive, multi-level interventions, spanning industrial policy, regulatory enforcement, design requirements, and information infrastructure. Circularity must be reframed not just as an ecological necessity but as a lever for resilience, transparency, value retention, and socio-economic benefit. This research contributes to the literature by offering a value chain-integrated, multi-level analysis of circularity in solar PV, highlighting the role of institutional and geopolitical dynamics. Future research should investigate other geographical and cultural areas active in solar PV, integration of quantitative assessments in qualitative research, research on scaling of circular business models, and lastly synergies for circularity between PV and other manufacturing industries.