A comparative study on cost and life‐cycle analysis for 100 MW very large‐scale PV (VLS‐PV) systems in deserts using m‐Si, a‐Si, CdTe, and CIS modules

Ito, Masakazu; Kato, Kazuhiko; Komoto, Keiichi; Kichimi, Tetsuo; Kurokawa, Kosuke

doi:10.1002/pip.770

Cited by 134 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Many of the most favourable locations for solar PV lie in sparsely inhabited regions. For example, Ito et al (2008) assumed that 100 km of transmission lines would be required to connect a 100-MW PV system to existing transmission, and found that transmission infrastructure comprised between ∼ 10 and 15% of system CED over the lifetime of the project (Ito et al 2008 , Table 8). Furthermore, Ito et al (2005) estimated losses due to transformer, reactive power compensation and transmission line losses of 5.8-8.2% for a 100 km line in a hot desert.…”

Section: Transmission Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Palmer

Floyd²

2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Solar photovoltaics (PV) is widely regarded as one of the most promising renewable energy technologies. Net energy analysis (NEA) is a tool to evaluate the energetic performance of all energy supply technologies, including solar PV. Results across studies can appear to diverge sharply, which leads to contestation of NEA's relevance to energy transition feasibility assessment and contributes to ongoing uncertainty in relation to the critical issue of the sustainability of PV. This study explores how PV NEA approaches differ, including in relation to goal definitions, methodologies and boundaries of analysis. It focuses on two principal NEA metrics, energy return on investment (EROI) and energy payback time (EPBT). Here we show that most of the apparent divergence between studies is accounted for by six factors-life-cycle assessment methodology, age of the primary data, PV cell technology, the treatment of intermittency, equivalence of investment and output energy forms, and assumptions about real-world performance. The apparent divergence in findings between studies can often be traced back to different goal definitions. This study reviews the differing approaches and makes the case that NEA is important for assessing the role of PV in future energy systems, but that findings in the form of EROI or EPBT must be considered with specific reference to the details of the particular study context, and the research questions that it seeks to address. NEA findings in a particular context cannot definitively support general statements about EROI or EPBT of PV electricity in all contexts.

show abstract

Section: Transmission Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, high-voltage transmission infrastructure is usually assumed to lie outside the study boundary for electricity generation NEA [for exceptions, see Ito et al (2008Ito et al ( , 2016]. …”

Section: Transmission Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Palmer

Floyd²

2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[12] 1997 PV Japan Process [13] 1997 PV US Process [14] 2000 PV Unspecified Process [15] 2001 PV Europe Process [16] 2001 PV US Process [17] 2002 PV India Process [18] 2002 PV Europe Process [19] 2004 PV Europe Process [20] 2004 PV India Process [21] 2004 PV Europe Process [22] 2005 PV Europe Process [23] 2006 PV US Process [24] 2006 PV Europe Process [25] 2006 PV US Process [26] 2006 PV Singapore Process [27] 2007 PV Europe Process [28] 2007 PV US Process [29] 2007 PV Europe Process [30] 2008 PV China Process [31] 2008 PV Many Process [32] 2009 PV Europe Process [33] 2009 PV US Process [34] 2009 PV Europe Process [6] 2010 PV US/Canada Process [35] 2010 PV US Hybrid [36] 2010 PV China/Japan Process [37] 2011 PV Europe Process [38] 2011 PV Europe Process [39] 1990 CSP US I-O [40] 1999 CSP Australia Hybrid [41] 2002 CSP Australia Hybrid [42] 2008 CSP Europe Process [43] 2011 CSP US Hybrid [44] 2011 CSP Europe Process [45] 2011 CSP Chile Process [46] 2011 CSP China Process …”

Section: Literature Search and Screeningmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of Energy Costs of Photovoltaic, Solar Thermal, and Wind Electricity Generation Technologies

Dale

2013

Applied Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Global installed capacity of renewable energy technologies is growing rapidly. The ability of renewable technologies to enable a rapid transition to a low carbon energy system is highly dependent on the energy that must be "consumed" during their life-cycle. This paper presents the results of meta-analyses of life-cycle assessments (LCA) of energy costs of three renewable technologies: solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP), and wind. The paper presents these findings as energetic analogies with financial cost parameters for assessing energy technologies: overnight capital cost, operating costs and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The findings suggest that wind energy has the lowest energy costs, followed by CSP and then PV.

show abstract

“…By optimizing the system performance based only on GHG emissions, new environmental burdens may be introduced from other environmental emissions (e.g., NO x and SO 2 ). A holistic or system-level perspective is therefore essential in the assessment, and the range of emission types included in a study may critically affect the outcome; although described as "full LCA studies", some studies (e.g., [16][17][18]) include only GHG emissions. Overall emissions can be categorized into direct emissions (e.g., from the stack of a power plant) and indirect emissions (e.g., related either to upstream provision of fuel, resources, goods, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations

Turconi

Boldrin

Astrup

2013

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

597

300

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Electricity generation is a key contributor to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), NO x and SO 2 and their related environmental impact. A critical review of 167 case studies involving the life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation based on hard coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, nuclear, biomass, hydroelectric, solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind was carried out to identify ranges of emission data for GHG, NO x and SO 2 related to individual technologies. It was shown that GHG emissions could not be used as a single indicator to represent the environmental performance of a system or technology. Emission data were evaluated with respect to three life cycle phases (fuel provision, plant operation, and infrastructure). Direct emissions from plant operation represented the majority of the life cycle emissions for fossil fuel technologies, whereas fuel provision represented the largest contribution for biomass technologies (71% for GHG, 54% for NO x and 61% for SO 2 ) and nuclear power (60% for GHG, 82% for NO x and 92% for SO 2 ); infrastructures provided the highest impact for renewables. These data indicated that all three phases should be included for completeness and to avoid problem shifting. The most critical methodological aspects in relation to LCA studies were identified as follows: definition of the functional unit, the LCA method employed (e.g., IOA, PCA and hybrid), the emission allocation principle and/or system boundary expansion. The most important technological aspects were identified as follows: the energy recovery efficiency and the flue gas cleaning system for fossil fuel technologies; the electricity mix used during both the manufacturing and the construction phases for nuclear and renewable technologies; and the type, quality and origin of feedstock, as well as the amount and type of co-products, for biomass-based systems. This review demonstrates that the variability of existing LCA results for electricity generation can give rise to conflicting decisions regarding the environmental consequences of implementing new technologies.

show abstract

A comparative study on cost and life‐cycle analysis for 100 MW very large‐scale PV (VLS‐PV) systems in deserts using m‐Si, a‐Si, CdTe, and CIS modules

Cited by 134 publications

References 4 publications

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

A Comparative Analysis of Energy Costs of Photovoltaic, Solar Thermal, and Wind Electricity Generation Technologies

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of electricity generation technologies: Overview, comparability and limitations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About