An integrated model for designing a bi-objective closed-loop solar photovoltaic supply chain network considering environmental impacts: A case study in Iran

Recently, renewable energy resources such as solar energy have been significantly utilized in various sectors, regarding world population growth and the increasing use of fossil fuel and non-renewable resources, and consequently, the increased rate of environmental pollution. Implementing photovoltaic systems is regarded as one of the methods of using solar energy, which countries have highly considered in recent years. With the limited lifetime of photovoltaic systems, addressing the forward and reverse supply chain of these systems plays a significant role in increasing their efficiency. To this end, the present study seeks to develop a two-objective mixed-integer non-linear model, including minimizing total costs and minimizing the negative environmental impacts, aiming to design a closed-loop supply chain network for photovoltaic systems. In this study, the augmented ε-constraint method was employed to convert the current two-objective programming model into a single-objective one. Finally, the proposed model was implemented in a case study in Iran to evaluate the model's efficiency. The results indicated that solar power plants should be built in areas with higher solar energy and lower cost. Also, the model dynamics could increase the number of constructed solar power plants and their electricity generation capacity over the time horizon, followed by increased demand for annual electricity generated by solar energy.