Biography

Riccardo Martinelli is a PhD candidate in Sociology and Applied Social Research at Sapienza University of Rome and a Research Fellow at CNR–IRPPS, where he works on the ERC project Illicit Labour: Unveiling the Dark Sides of the Global Photovoltaic Industry. His research examines the end-of-life trajectories of photovoltaic modules across Europe and Ghana, focusing on the classifications, valuations, practices, and meanings through which panels are performed as reusable commodities, waste, or sources of secondary raw materials. Using a multi-sited, mixed-methods approach, he studies recycling, repair, reuse, informal recovery, and the transnational circulation of second-hand solar technologies. More broadly, his work explores how the boundaries between waste, commodity, and resource are produced and contested, and how green capitalism reorganises material flows and generates uneven social and environmental consequences across different geographical contexts.

Research interests

Critical sociology; energy transitions; photovoltaic end-of-life; waste classification and valuation; reuse, repair and recycling; transnational second-hand markets between Europe and Ghana; mixed-methods research.

Selected publication

Lovreglio, J., Martinelli, R., Aditi, A. and Inverardi-Ferri, C. (2026) ‘Solar imaginaries: territorial enclosures and renewable energy politics in Puglia’, Geoforum, 175, 104751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104751

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