Digital Product Passport in the European Photovoltaic Industry: Driving Circular Economy and Sustainable Energy

Researchers from the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), participating in the EU-funded project “Retrieve” are creating a digital product passport (DPP) designed to promote circular approaches within the European photovoltaic (PV) industry. The DPP platform is intended to enhance data management and traceability along the PV value chain, enabling more efficient end-of-life (EoL) processes and supporting circular economy initiatives.

The reason behind: The global solar industry is expanding at an unprecedented pace (Hemetsberger, Schmela, & Dunlop, 2024). PV products have become one of the pillars of the clean energy transition, offering a scalable solution to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy independence. This will end up in an increased amount of PV waste in the future (Rabaia, Semeraro, & Olabi, 2022).

Figure 1: Projected global cumulative PV capacity and end-of-life PV waste (2016–2050) highlighting the growing need for recycling and circular economy strategies. 10.09.2025 (Rabaia, Semeraro, & Olabi, 2022)

Yet the rapid growth and future waste of this sector is accompanied by two critical challenges. First, the production of solar modules is heavily concentrated in China, which now accounts for more than 80 percent of global output (Thomton, Mon, & Kerr, 2023). This concentration not only undermines Europe’s strategic autonomy but also erodes competitiveness, as Chinese modules are produced at significantly lower costs than their European or American counterparts (Chadly, Moawad, Salah, Omar, & Mayyas, 2024). Second, the global expansion of solar capacity will generate enormous amounts of waste. By 2050, around 80 million tons of decommissioned PV modules could accumulate worldwide (Akhter, et al., 2024). If these materials are not properly recovered and reintegrated into the industrial cycle, the environmental footprint of the energy transition itself risks becoming unsustainable.

A dual challenge: dependency and waste

The European Union has set ambitious goals for renewable energy deployment, but its reliance on imported modules threatens both supply security and the creation of a resilient industrial base. At the same time, the recycling of PV modules is still in its infancy. The current recycling infrastructure is fragmented, and information about the composition and recyclability of modules is often unavailable to those who need it most (Komoto, et al., 2025).

This combination of dependency and waste highlights the need for innovation beyond production. If Europe wants to compete in the solar sector while safeguarding environmental goals, it must rethink the entire value chain – from manufacturing to end-of-life management.

The promise of digital product passports

One promising response is the Digital Product Passport (DPP) (Walden, Steinbrecher, & Marinkovic, 2021). In simple terms, a DPP is a digital record that accompanies a product throughout its lifecycle. It contains structured information on materials, components, environmental impact, and sustainability options (Plociennik, et al., 2022; King, Timms, & Mountney, 2023). For solar modules, a DPP can be a game changer: it offers transparency, enables traceability, and allows all stakeholders – manufacturers, installers, recyclers, regulators – to access the data they need to make informed decisions (Boukhatmi & Grösser, 2025).

Within the EU-funded Retrieve project (RETRIEVE, 2023), this concept has been applied to the solar industry in the form of a DPP-Platform. The platform is designed as a web-based hub that consolidates lifecycle data and ensures that critical information does not get lost between the many actors of the PV value chain. Its mission is clear: transform a linear industry into a circular one through digitalization.

From concept to platform

The DPP-Platform brings together several core functionalities that strengthen circular practices. At its centre lies a secure and interoperable data management system that assigns each system a unique digital identity. Through this identity, the complete lifecycle can be digitally traced: the material composition, production methods, performance data, lifecycle events, and circularity information.

Manufacturers can upload detailed information about material compositions and design specifications. Recyclers gain access to dismantling guidelines and recovery metrics. Policymakers can monitor compliance with EU sustainability regulations, while installers and owners receive clear instructions on usage and performance data. Access rights are tailored to protect sensitive data but still allow for collaboration where it is needed.

What makes this approach powerful is the integration across the entire value chain. Instead of isolated data silos, the passport creates a common language. It transforms fragmented information flows into a structured system that can be scaled and standardized across Europe and potentially beyond.

A response to regulatory momentum

The timing of this development is no coincidence. The European Union is steadily expanding the regulatory framework that demands more transparency and sustainability in product design. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR) (European Parliament & Council, 2024) emphasizes lifecycle thinking and resource efficiency. Furthermore, the Circular Economy Action Plan (Götz, et al., 2022) sets the course for reducing waste and extending product life. Under the Green Deal (Langley, Rosca, Angelopoulos, Kamminga, & Hooijer, 2023), Europe has committed to decarbonization and the responsible use of critical materials.

Other industries are already experiencing this shift. From 2027 onward, the EU-wide digital battery passport will be mandatory. Batteries sold in Europe will require a digital passport documenting material origins, carbon footprint, and recyclability (Battery Pass Consortium, 2025). The solar industry will follow, making the DPP not only a voluntary innovation but a forward-looking compliance tool (ESIA: European PV Solar Industry Alliance, 2024). Companies that adopt such systems early position themselves as leaders in sustainability and digital transformation.

Materials, modules, and circularity

To understand the significance of a product passport, it is worth looking at what is inside a PV module. A standard panel is composed of tempered glass and an aluminium frame. Beside that encapsulants (usually EVA), polymer backsheets, and the solar cells themselves, which contain silicon along with trace amounts of silver, tin, and sometimes lead. Perovskite and other emerging PV technologies expand the range of materials used in solar cells, adding complexity beyond traditional silicon, CdTe, and GaAs systems (Silva, Arachchige, Kumaragamage, & Perera, 2024).

This mix of valuable, toxic, and technically challenging substances requires a highly informed recycling process. Without clear data, recyclers often cannot separate or recover materials efficiently, leading to losses both in terms of value and environmental performance. By tracing material composition and recycling potential from the outset, a digital product passport provides the foundation for higher recovery rates and safer waste management.

Beyond recycling: a broader vision

While recycling is the most immediate use case within the Retrieve project, the implications of DPPs go further. Passports enable reuse and maintenance of PV systems by documenting component history and usage conditions. They support the development of secondary markets, where reused or refurbished components can be verified and traded with confidence.

Figure 2: Framework Overview for DPP: Comprehensive structure of the DPP, highlighting frontend, backend, PV industry integration, and services.

Moreover, the integration of lifecycle data with governmental energy systems opens new opportunities. Imagine municipal platforms that not only track energy production from solar rooftops but also enhance lifetime extension, anticipate recycling flows, optimize resource recovery, and connect with local industries. In such ecosystems, the DPP becomes a digital backbone of circular energy systems.

Toward adoption and scale

Of course, innovation in this field is not without hurdles. Implementing product passports requires agreement on data standards, investment in digital infrastructure, and trust among competing stakeholders. Companies may worry about sharing sensitive information, while smaller firms might find it difficult to allocate resources for implementation.

Yet the benefits are tangible. Greater transparency reduces information asymmetries, compliance costs, and risks. Recovered materials like silicon and silver can re-enter the production cycle, reducing Europe’s reliance on imports and volatile markets. Collaboration across the value chain fosters innovation and resilience. Overall, the costs of inaction are far higher than the investment needed to deploy digital product passports.

Outlook

The DPP platform developed under the Retrieve project is still at the prototype stage but already illustrates the direction in which the industry is heading. Extended field testing, broader stakeholder engagement, and alignment with evolving EU regulations will determine how fast and widely the system can be adopted. Future iterations may include additional functionalities such as real-time performance monitoring, AI-supported predictive analytics, or blockchain-based verification of sustainability claims.

Figure 3: Login Page of DPP Platform: User login interface for accessing the DPP and its features.

What is already clear is that the passport offers a strategic advantage. For policymakers, it is a tool to implement sustainability goals with precision. For manufacturers, it is a chance to differentiate themselves in a competitive market. For society, it represents an investment in cleaner cities, resource efficiency, and climate resilience.

Conclusion

The solar industry has long been a symbol of the clean energy transition. But to remain truly sustainable, it must embrace circularity. The Digital Product Passport is a crucial step in that direction. By connecting data, people, and processes, it closes the loop between production and recycling, reduces dependency on imports, and sets new standards for transparency and collaboration.

The DPP is more than a technical solution. It is a strategic enabler of Europe’s energy independence, a driver of industrial innovation, and a catalyst for building a circular economy. If adopted at scale, it can transform the solar industry from a sector that merely produces green energy into one that embodies sustainability across its entire lifecycle.

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