Purpose: This study focuses on establishing relations with some important but underestimated elements of knowledge dynamics and firm orientations to characterize organizational circular economy activities through eco-innovation (EIN). The advent of the circular economy (CE) in this post-pandemic era has brought unpredictable sustainable challenges for the manufacturing industries. This research paper aims to bring more clarity to the extant literature on the relationship between environmental innovation (EI) and CE. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, a systematic literature review methodology was used to research the determinants of EI in the knowledge environment that drives the implementation of a CE. Findings: This paper proposes a framework that articulates organizational learning and orientation dynamics and offers a new set of internal knowledge resources for a corporate CE. It is found that change toward CE requires connection with EI. However, successful CE growth largely depends on leveraging knowledge resources and orientation dynamics (stakeholder orientation, sustainability orientation, organization learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation). CE techniques are still in their early phases of adoption and their implementation is still in its development. Circular knowledge economy (CKE) has the potential to be a useful alternative to achieving thriving CE to achieve sustainability in local and global businesses operations. Practical implications: This study helps companies to understand the organizational learning and different orientation dynamics for achieving CE principles. The research findings imply that EI is critical in establishing a sustainable transition toward CE through organizational learning and orientation dynamics and has garnered significant attention from academics, public policymakers and practitioners. The proposed framework can guide managers to develop sustainable policies related to the CE. This research recognizes that firm-level CKE is important in shaping how knowledge resources relate to CE within transition management literature. Originality/value: This paper abridges the knowledge gap in identifying key drivers and presents the current eminence, challenges and prognostications of sustainable EI parameters in the changing climate of CE. This study builds a framework that combines insights from different viewpoints and disciplines and extends one’s understanding of the relationship between EI and CE. From a theoretical perspective, this study explains the knowledge management complexity links between EI and CE. It builds a theoretical bridge between EI and CE to illustrate how firms transition toward CE following the recommendations. Thus, researchers should continue to support their research with appropriate theories that have the potential to explain EI and CE relationship phenomena, with a particular emphasis on some promising but underutilized theories such as organizational learning, dynamic capabilities and stakeholder theories.

Increasing the use of electric vehicles (EVs) is regarded as a step in the right direction to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions. However, a dramatic increase of EV and charging stations has raised voltage quality and harmonic distortion issues that affect the performance of integrated renewable power sources (wind and solar) and smart-grid electrical transmission networks. This paper models an integrated electric vehicle charging and battery storage system operating in the presence of unpredictable wind and solar power sources. The aim is to enable the design of an electrical control system that develops the correct duty cycle to stabilize and regulate the voltage at the dc/dc power conversion station. Simulations are performed to evaluate energy management by the proposed control system. The proposed system effectively manages the electric power on the grid by drawing power from the batteries at peak times and then charging them in off-peak times, reducing the load on the converter and enabling the reduction of charging time for electric vehicles. A constant voltage is achieved on the grid irrespective of fluctuations in renewable energy generation and in the load.

With a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by developing Smart Cities (SCs) and industrial decarbonization, there is a growing desire to decarbonize the renewable energy sector by accelerating green buildings (GBs) construction, electric vehicles (EVs), and ensuring long-term stability, with the expectation that emissions will need to be reduced by at least two thirds by 2035 and by at least 90% by 2050. Implementing GBs in urban areas and encouraging the use of EVs are cornerstones of transition towards SCs, and practical actions that governments can consider to help with improving the environment and develop SCs. This paper investigates different aspects of smart cities development and introduces new feasible indicators related to GBs and EVs in designing SCs, presenting existing barriers to smart cities development, and solutions to overcome them. The results demonstrate that feasible and achievable policies such as the development of the zero-energy, attention to design parameters, implementation of effective indicators for GBs and EVs, implementing strategies to reduce the cost of production of EVs whilst maintaining good quality standards, load management, and integrating EVs successfully into the electricity system, are important in smart cities development. Therefore, strategies to governments should consider the full dynamics and potential of socio-economic and climate change by implementing new energy policies on increasing investment in EVs, and GBs development by considering energy, energy, techno-economic, and environmental benefits.

Due to the recent surge in silicon demand for solar modules, thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules have a potential to penetrate the market in significant numbers. As an alternate candidate, thin film technologies in PVs have the ability to achieve better performance. The competing thin-film PV technologies have the flexibility to adapt to any sort of curvature compared to rigid solar cells (SCs). Due to the peculiar characteristics of newer solar materials, stability issues, reflection losses, advancements in electrode materials and dopant materials with a photoactive layer are current challenges driving the industrial-academic voyage of development of solar materials for the betterment of Photo-conversion Efficiency (PCE). Based on the photoactive materials used over time, SC evolution was broadly classified into first, second and third generation SCs. In this review, the basic working mechanisms, various materials used, drawbacks and stability issues of different SCs are discussed extensively. Thin film SCs tend to absorb certain elastic deformations due to their flexible nature and to a certain extent. According to the NREL efficiency chart, multi-junctional SCs exhibit enhanced efficiency as compared to the other SCs. Among the third-generation SCs, the perovskite/Si tandem architecture shows a maximum efficiency of approximately 29%. Thin film flexible SCs find application in various sectors such as automobile, defense and/or energy storage devices