Environmental Impacts of Solar-Photovoltaic and Solar-Thermal Systems with Life-Cycle Assessment

Abstract

The demand for clean energy is strong, and the shift from fossil-fuel-based energy to environmentally friendly sources is the next step to eradicating the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Solar energy technology has been touted as one of the most promising sources for low-carbon, non-fossil fuel energy production. However, the true potential of solar-based technologies is established by augmenting efficiency through satisfactory environmental performance in relation to other renewable energy systems. This paper presents an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) of a solar-photovoltaic (PV) system and a solar-thermal system. Single crystalline Si solar cells are considered for the solar PV system and an evacuated glass tube collector is considered for the solar thermal system in this analysis. A life-cycle inventory (LCI) is developed considering all inputs and outputs to assess and compare the environmental impacts of both systems for 16 impact indicators. LCA has been performed by the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD), Impact 2002+, Cumulative Energy Demand (CED), Eco-points 97, Eco-indicator 99 and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods, using SimaPro software. The outcomes reveal that a solar-thermal framework provides more than four times release to air ( 100 % ) than the solar-PV ( 23 . 26 % ), and the outputs by a solar-PV system to soil ( 27 . 48 % ) and solid waste ( 35 . 15 % ) are about one third that of solar-thermal. The findings also depict that the solar panels are responsible for the most impact in the considered systems. Moreover, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis has also been carried out for both frameworks, which reveal that Li-ion batteries and copper-indium-selenium (CIS)-solar collectors perform better than others for most of the considered impact categories. This study revealed that a superior environmental performance can be achieved by both systems through careful selection of the components, taking into account the toxicity aspects, and by minimizing the impacts related to the solar panel, battery and heat storage.

Evaluation of the Water–Energy–Land Nexus (WELN) Using Exergy-Based Indicators: The Chilean Electricity System Case

“…Nevertheless, the CExC values obtained here could be underestimated due to the exclusion of indirect resource consumption during the technology manufacturing stage, specifically for solar photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. In this sense, several studies highlighted the high primary exergy consumption during PV modules production [59][60][61]. Furthermore, the results reported also demonstrated that the manufacturing stage varies as a function of the material used in PV, implying variation from 22% to 81% of total exergy consumption [59,60].…”

“…Furthermore, the results reported also demonstrated that the manufacturing stage varies as a function of the material used in PV, implying variation from 22% to 81% of total exergy consumption [59,60]. In addition, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the battery solar-PV manufacturing also depicted significant impacts on water resources depletion, land use and natural resources (minerals) [61]. The wind turbines are also characterized by high demand of natural resources (energy resources and material resources), as is demonstrated in most of the LCA impact methods [62][63][64].…”

Evaluating the Environmental Performance of Solar Energy Systems Through a Combined Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Analysis

“…Photovoltaics based power generation employs solar panels to produce power on both a standalone basis using batteries or on a grid-connected basis using an inverter and electrical utility lines. Currently, commercially available PV modules are considered as not highly efficient (with typical efficiencies of~16%), and thus there are intense research and development efforts for the development of new technological solutions to the challenge of producing commercial PV with increased efficiencies [10,19]. The rapid decline in installed costs (prices per installed MW have fallen by about 60% since 2008) has significantly improved the economic viability of PV around the world, with the global installed capacity escalated at 402 GW in 2017 compared to 8 GW back in 2007 [2,20].…”

“…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 [9][10][11].LCA is the methodology to be used when comparing the environmental performance (strengths and weaknesses) of different energy technologies, among them renewable systems. The idea behind a life cycle perspective in the context of power generation is that the environmental impacts of electricity are not only due to the power production process itself, but also originate from the production chains of installed components, materials used, energy carriers, and necessary services.…”

“…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 [9][10][11].…”