Halide perovskites are poised as a game-changing new semiconductor system with diverse applications in optoelectronics. Industrial entities aim to commercialize perovskite technologies because of high performance, but also because this type of semiconductor can be processed from solution, a feature enabling low cost and fast production. Here we analyze the health and environmental impacts of eight solvents commonly used in perovskite processing. We consider first and higher order ramifications of each solvent on an industrial scale such as the solvent production, use/removal, emissions and potential end-of-life treatments. Further, we consider the energy of evaporation for each solvent, air emission, condensation and subsequent incineration, reuse or distillation for solvent recycling and apply a full end-of-life analysis. For human health impact, we use the 'USEtox' method, but also consider toxicity data beyond carcinogenic classifications. We find that dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) has the lowest total impact being the most environmentally friendly and least deleterious to human health of the solvents considered. The analysis of these solvents on human health and the environment provides guidance for sustainable development of this new technology.

The environmental performance of four different device assembly procedures based on hybrid halide perovskite solar cell (PSC) were assessed from cradle to grave using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In addition, a new environmental indicator was defined to measure the time evolution of an impact category, specifically in this case, human toxicity cancer payback time. PSCs procedures accounted for the probably three more used basic recipes for laboratory perovskite deposition: 1) spin coating of stoichiometric precursor solution, 2) spin coating of precursor solution using lead chloride precursor and 3) the two step deposition method. Also, the two most widely used substrate configurations (planar and mesoporous substrate) were considered. LCA included three realistic scenarios for the end of life: 1) residual landfill, 2) reuse and residual landfill and 3) reuse and recycling. The remaining variable parameters to assemble the device were fixed in common for all four devices, which were the major responsible of the whole PSC impact. Lead of PSCs had no significant contribution in environmental impacts. Beyond shared procedure steps, impacts generated by the twostep method and the use of mesostructured type substrate were higher. End of life scenario with reuse and recycling improved the toxicity impact categories.

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SummaryPhotovoltaic devices based on perovskite materials have a great potential to become an exceptional source of energy while preserving the environment. However, to enter the global market, they require further development to achieve the necessary performance requirements. The environmental performance of a pre-industrial process of production of a large-area carbon stack perovskite module is analyzed in this work through life cycle assessment (LCA). From the pre-industrial process an ideal process is simulated to establish a benchmark for pre-industrial and laboratory-scale processes. Perovskite is shown to be the most harmful layer of the carbon stack module because of the energy consumed in the preparation and annealing of the precursor solution, and not because of its Pb content. This work stresses the necessity of decreasing energy consumption during module preparation as the most effective way to reduce environmental impacts of perovskite solar cells.

After the great initiation of perovskite as a photovoltaic material, laboratory efficiencies similar to other photovoltaic technologies already commercialised have been reached. Consequently, recent research interests on perovskite solar cells try to address the stability improvement as well as make its industrialisation possible. Record efficiencies in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been achieved using as active material a multiple cation/anion perovskite by combining methylammonium (MA) and formamidinium (FA), but also Cs cation and I and Br as anions, materials that also have demonstrated a superior stability. Herein, the environmental performance of the production of such perovskite films was evaluated via life cycle assessment. Our study points out that multiple cation/anion perovskite films show major detrimental environmental impacts for all categories assessed, except for abiotic depletion potential, when they are compared with a canonical perovskite MAPbI 3 . In addition, a closer analysis of the materials utilised for the synthesis of the different multiple cation perovskites compositions revealed that lead halide reagents and chlorobenzene were the most adverse compounds in terms of impact. However, the former is used in all the perovskite compositions and the later can be avoided by the use of alternative fabrication methods to anti-solvent. To this extent, FAI, with the current synthesis procedures, is the most determining compound as it increases significantly the impacts and the cost in comparison with MAI. A further economic analysis, exposed that multiple cation perovskites need a significantly higher photoconversion efficiency to produce the same payback times than canonical perovskite.2

Earth receives from the sun %432 EJ in 1 h, out of which 18 EJ per hour are reflected off from the surface and lost into space. [1] Despite the fact that this amount of energy is available to be converted to usable energy by photovoltaics (PVs), nowadays, this power technology is just converting about 4 EJ per year. [2] Converting all this incident energy would suppose nearly 158 000 EJ per year, which greatly exceeds the 585 EJ of primary energy (PE) consumed in 2017. [3] This fact makes solar power technologies converting directly incident sunlight into usable electrical energy, hence, PVs, powerful candidates to ease the environmental issues derived from the present system of energy production. However, the potential of PV to provide electricity to our societies in a postcarbon energy system is limited by a Shockley-Queisser limit of about 33%, [4] together with land and sources availability.There are several PV technologies, each with a different degree of maturity. Crystalline Si PVs represent the most deployed type with 95% of the market share, 75% in monocrystalline silicon (Mono-Si), with a growing share, and 20% for multicrystalline silicon (Multi-Si), with a continuously declining share. [5] Mono-Si and Multi-Si present moderately high operating efficiencies between 20% and 22%, a deep industrial implementation constructed in parallel with the development of the electronic industry and low toxicity. [6] Another key advantage of this technology in a large production scenario is that it can be entirely produced with relatively abundant materials. [7] The only argument against crystalline Si as the ideal PV material is the chemistries required for purification, reduction, and crystallization of pure silicon from sand, which are highly energy

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The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to calculate the environmental impacts of the current chemical pre-treatment with chromium (VI) for electroplating acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The inventory comprised: the procurement of chemicals; the manufacturing process with successive baths and rinses that requires, in addition to chemicals, energy to heat baths, air agitation, filtration, and so forth, wastewater treatment and air emissions; and also the treatment of sludges from wastewater treatment and exhausted baths. Chromic acid was almost the unique responsible of eco-toxicity (97.5%) and human toxicity-cancer (99.8%) and it was one of the highest contributor to climate change, cumulative energy demand, fossil fuel depletion, human toxicity non-cancer, and in abiotic depletion.