This thesis explores the future of the solar mounting industry by constructing and assessing four product-scenarios. The goal was to assess how these scenarios could influence the development of a climate neutral solar mounting product by 2040.

• Standardized Mass Energy (SME): This scenario envisions a future where solar energy systems are mass-produced and standardized to efficiently meet global energy demands. The focus is on uniform, large-scale, high-efficiency solar mounting products that can be deployed rapidly. Governments and large corporations drive this scenario, prioritizing speed and efficiency in installation, while achieving climate neutral products by application of green steel.
If international cooperation remains strong and the focus on large-scale infrastructure continues. Stakeholder assessment indicates that this scenario is possible due to current market trends favouring scalability and cost-efficiency. But consolidation might eliminate their margins.
• Circular Energy (CE): This scenario prioritizes sustainability through a reuse-system for solar panels, aligning with the circular economy principles. Solar mounting services create modular, reusable systems, being climate neutral in prioritising reuse and minimising green steel production. The spatial arrangement alternates solar with green roofs and urban gardens, promoting local energy distribution. While this scenario is desirable, it faces challenges in market acceptance and requires significant shifts in political and economic frameworks. Stakeholder assessment suggests elements of this scenario could unfold, if there is a strong policy push towards circular economy from society.
• Scramble for Energy (SfE): This scenario envisions a chaotic and competitive market driven by geopolitical tensions and the need for energy security. Solar products vary in quality, with customers prioritizing affordability and speed over sustainability, leaving no securance of a climate neutral product. The spatial arrangement is also chaotic, leaving no room for nature, due to the pressures of energy scarcity and instability. The stakeholder assessment reveals that this scenario is highly likely in the near future, particularly if global energy markets become more fragmented and nations keep prioritising self-sufficiency over collaboration.
• Power to People (PtP): This scenario focuses on social equity, with solar energy being distributed to balance industry and citizen needs. With international failure in climate action, the emphasis is on domestic production and local community empowerment. Solar installations are integrated with multifunctional benefits as climate adaption or water-management, creating collective responsibility. While this scenario is highly desirable for sales, it demands significant restructuring of industry practices and societal norms. Stakeholder assessment indicates this scenario could unfold (after SfE has,) if there develops a societal movement towards communal energy equality and local wealth, supported by progressive policies.

The scenarios provided for a roadmap construction for the solar mounting company Sunbeam. By understanding potential futures, Sunbeam can strategically navigate the evolving mounting industry, balancing immediate product-demands with product interventions inspired by a long-term climate neutral vision. The roadmap allows Sunbeam to lead with a strategy of collaborations and products that stimulate envisioned system development.

Project aim
In recent years, the amount of households facing problematic debts has been increasing. To combat the resulting problems, municipalities offer debt counseling, focusing on (voluntary) arrangements to help recipients become debt-free. The recent reduction of counseling duration from 36 to 18 months raises concerns about recipients’ ability to develop self-reliance, which potentially leads to relapses into debt after finishing the process. My client, the municipality of The Hague has therefore asked me to design for the aftercare program to counteract these negative effects.

The main design goal for this project is: “To support self-reliance of debt counseling recipients by providing tools that assist in finding suitable information, and lower the barrier to seek for help after finishing the process, in order to prevent the accumulation of new debt in the future.”
Recipients are the primary users of the proposed design. Their supervisors play a key role as main points of contact during debt counseling, which necessitates alignment with their needs and values too.

Methodologies
- Literature review: Exploring factors influencing aftercare, its contexts, and the impact of debt on individual well-being.
- Qualitative interviews: Generatively exploring needs, values, and barriers of recipients and relevant municipal employees supporting them.
- Research by design: Iterating concepts through frequent mini evaluations with recipients and supervisors.
- Generative sessions: Mapping the debt counseling system and evaluating concepts.
- Evaluation interviews: Reflecting on final design contents, use, and implementation with recipients, supervisors, and a quality employee.

Research outcomes
Main research outcomes about understanding the debt counseling system and recipient experiences:
- Types of recipients. Six archetypes of recipients were identified, with the “lost recipient” and the “insecure recipient” selected as those who could benefit most from adequate aftercare, as they benefit the most from support to address their challenges.
- Attention for aftercare. A significant portion of recipients express dissatisfaction with debt counseling and aim to exit the process quickly, leading to minimal attention to aftercare. Furthermore, supervisors prioritize the initial phases of other recipients’ processes over aftercare because they consider them more critical, and they are too busy to address both.

The main insights retrieved from iterative design phases:
- Grip to support self-reliance. Recipients benefit from two types of grip: passive grip with which they are supported to find suitable solutions to problems themselves and active grip with which they are helped by people or organizations around them.
- Self-reliance throughout the process. Recipients need to practice using methods to increase grip on problems they might face during debt counseling, to understand how to use it afterward. Supporting recipients throughout various phases of the process, not just during aftercare, is essential to enhance self-reliance.
- Personal service. Recipients might be more willing to cooperate until the end of the process of debt counseling if they are treated more personally.

The design
The tool: a card bundle
I designed a card bundle to enhance the recipient’s self-reliance, with cards for planning, celebrating, and gaining grip on problem solving. Gradually introduced by supervisors based on recipient abilities, familiarizes recipients with the personalised bundle, increasing the likelihood of use after debt counseling.

The intervention: a final appointment
A final, in-person appointment during aftercare could benefit both recipients and supervisors. This meeting would involve reflection, future planning, and celebration, guided by a designed infographic. It provides recipients with closure and acknowledgment. While supervisors may need to adapt their routines, they would find satisfaction in concluding the process with their recipients.

After evaluation sessions, I developed a final iteration of the design. Suggestions for implementation strategies are included for successful deployment. Pilot testing with a small group of supervisors and their recipients is recommended as the initial next step.