ABSTRACT Globally, solar energy initiatives are increasingly recognised not only as a means of decarbonisation but also as vehicles for promoting the circular economy (CE) principles throughout infrastructure life cycles. The expansion of solar installations and the associated material intensity require a transition to circularity to alleviate resource depletion, waste production and lifecycle emissions. Circularity redefines solar infrastructure as a sustainable material repository, enhancing asset value via predictive maintenance, component recovery and closed‐loop supply chains. Circular economy business models (CEBM) implement these practices by transitioning from single‐asset sales to service‐oriented, performance‐based frameworks. Thus, in this study, we sought to identify critical factors to improve a circular economy business model (CEBM) for solar projects. A structured quantitative survey was employed to gather data from 426 solar project practitioners across various worldwide locations, offering a cross‐geographical perspective on circularity in solar projects. The analysis encompassed multiple procedures, including model creation, measurement model estimation and structural model estimation. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to evaluate the study's model. First, our findings empirically enhance the theory in the following three respects: by redefining circularity as a capability for configuring business models; by clarifying that sustainability outcomes are inherently integrated within energy organisations rather than merely added; and by conceptualising solar projects as transient yet transformative platforms that instantiate long‐term circular value logics. Secondly, we have empirically validated a ce MB that surpasses CE principles by focusing on organisational elements and project‐level implementation techniques, demonstrating how energy firms can incorporate CE value‐creation principles into the design and execution of solar projects.
Al Sabah et al. (Fri,) studied this question.