A circular economy approach to residential solar thermal systems

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether circular economy principles are applied in existing residential solar thermal systems, and to propose a pathway that will combine existing tools and methods for assessing life cycle data under proper design modifications and labelling options, to reach circular economy targets. The proposed holistic scheme covers various aspects (i.e., energy saving potential, environmental impacts, expected lifetime, recycling-reusing capabilities, use of advanced materials, and purchase cost) and comprises the implementation of eco-design principles based on life cycle assessment results and categorization of the final outcome via a circular economy modified label. Thus redesigned solar thermal systems will exhibit optimized characteristics being more lightweight and durable with minimized use of resources/waste and providing ease of disassembly of selected parts aiming for reuse options.