Life cycle assessment and energy pay-back time of advanced photovoltaic modules: CdTe and CIS compared to poly-Si

Raugei, Marco; Bargigli, Silvia; Ulgiati, Sérgio

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2006.10.003

Cited by 257 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Updated GHG emissions from the life cycle photovoltaic electricity production for average southern European insolation (1700 kWh/m 2 /yr), 30 years lifetime, 75% performance ratio for roof-top installations, 80% performance ratio for utility ground-mount installations. [4][5][6][7] The place of production is indicated because CO 2 emissions of the average US electricity supply are higher than those of the average European supply, resulting in relatively higher CO 2 emissions for US produced modules Note: The damage factor (in s/ton) gives an economic valuation of the total health and environmental damages caused by a certain emission. Multiplication of the damage factor with the corresponding life-cycle emission factor for modules and BOS (in kg/kWh) results in the external costs (in s-cents/kWh) of that specific emission.…”

Section: Balance Of System For Ground Installationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status

Fthenakis

Alsema

2006

Progress in Photovoltaics

260

135

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Life cycle assessments and external cost estimates of photovoltaics have been often based on old data that do not reflect the extensive technological progress made over the past decade. Our assessment uses current (2004-early 2005) manufacturing data, from twelve European and US photovoltaic companies, and establishes the Energy Payback Times (EPBT), Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and external environmental costs of current commercial PV technologies. Estimates of external costs are about 70% lower than those in recent high-impact publications which were derived from the old data. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTIONI t is well understood that production of energy by burning of fossil fuels generates a number of pollutants and carbon dioxide. What is less known is that any anthropogenic means of energy production, including solar, generate pollutants when their entire life cycle is accounted for. A life cycle starts from the mining and processing of materials that comprise solar cells, modules and balance of system, and ends to their final decommissioning, disposal and/or recycling. Costs associated with the environmental, health and societal impacts that are not included in the direct cost of electricity, are called external costs of electricity production. While societal external costs are difficult to quantify, external costs associated with environmental and health protection or damage have been quantified in monetary terms. Perhaps the most well-known effort to quantify environmental and health damages due to electricity production, is the European Union's series of ExternE (External Costs of Energy) projects. The ExternE methodology starts from emissions generated at specific sources and follows their impact to receptors through atmospheric dispersion and dose-response functions. In general, this type of environmental impact assessment is well accepted, although assumptions related to Broader Perspectives the monetary valuation of estimated impacts, especially green-house related impacts, are debateable. 'The ExternE methodology has been applied in a large number of European and national studies to give advice for environmental, energy and transport policies.' 1 Photovoltaic installations in Germany were presented in the latest ExternE report to the European Commission 1 as having 30% higher health impacts than natural gas and GHG emissions of 180 g CO 2 -eq./kWh which would be 10 times higher than those for the nuclear fuel cycle (Figure 1). These results were based on 15-years old PV systems and even older data on module production technology. z Also based on outdated PV technology data a life cycle-based comparison of energy technologies in Australia 2 showed that PV emits about 100 g CO 2 /kWh during its life cycle (Figure 1). The results from these two studies were widely circulated and especially the ExternE publication with its official status is likely to have influenced policy decisions with regard to energy technology. More recent (i.e., 2000) data are included in the Ecoinvent...

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Section: Balance Of System For Ground Installationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status

Fthenakis

Alsema

2006

Progress in Photovoltaics

260

135

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“…Also, we can reduce CO 2 emissions by introducing brand new PVs with low embodied CO 2 emissions. For example, it is pointed out that the embodied CO 2 emissions of thin-Si PVs, CdTe PVs, and CIS PVs are smaller than those of mono-or multicrystalline Si PVs 14,[31][32] . Recycling has the potential to 55 reduce CO 2 emissions during manufacture by 6-20% 24 .…”

Section: Assumptions For Co 2 Emissions In the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Net CO₂ emissions from global photovoltaic development

2014

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We examine cumulative net energy use and cumulative net CO 2 emissions associated with the 5 development of photovoltaics (PVs) on a global scale. The analysis is focused on the performance of five countries with the largest installed PV capacities -Italy, Japan, Germany, Spain, and the United Statesand on the aggregate values for the world (23 countries). The historical record shows that, during the past 19 years of development, the installed base has grown to 64 GW, with an average annual growth rate of almost 40%. During that period the manufacturing and use of photovoltaics has led to a cumulative net 10 consumption of approximately 286 PJ of energy, and cumulative net emissions of 34 Mt of CO 2 as a result of a considerable payback time. While energy/CO 2 payback time is not unique to PV systems, it plays a larger role in the development of new energy systems than other low-carbon systems. PV energy/CO 2 payback time decreases with the following measures: installation of PVs in locations with a large PV potential and high CO 2 emissions of the electricity replaced, manufacturing PVs at locations 15 with low CO 2 emissions of kWh of electricity used in the production, recycling PVs, and increasing PV conversion efficiency. The analysis is therefore extended into the future for three scenarios with different maximum capacities of photovoltaics (20%, 50%, and 100% of total electricity production). In these scenarios, cumulative net CO 2 emissions can be reduced by 4%, 9%, and 18%, respectively, over the long term (by the year 2050). Short-term CO 2 increases during growth versus long-term CO 2 reduction present 20 a trade-off in developmental growth strategies.

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“…Also a detailed comparison of energy payback times and emissions for different photovoltaic technologies has been carried out where most attention has been devoted to monocrystalline (mono-Si) and multicrystalline (multi-Si) silicon modules since they are the most often used PV technologies with a 93% share of the market in 2006 [9][10][11]. Also thin film technologies of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium diselenide (CIS) modules have been assessed [12,13]. All thin film technologies show better values of energy payback time and avoided emissions, and despite their lower power conversion efficiency, their main advantage is the use of much less material in the active layer (200-300 mm for multi-Si and mono-Si, compared with around 10 and 1 mm for CIS and CdTe, respectively).…”

Section: Life Cycle Analysis Of Photovoltaic Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle analysis of organic photovoltaic technologies

García‐Valverde

Cherni

Urbina

2010

Progress in Photovoltaics

162

130

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Organic solar cells, both in the hybrid dye sensitized technology and in the full organic polymeric technology, are a promising alternative that could supply solar electricity at a cost much lower than other more conventional inorganic photovoltaic technologies. This paper presents a life cycle analysis of the laboratory production of a typical bulk heterojunction organic solar cell and compares this result with those obtained for the industrial production of other photovoltaic technologies. Also a detailed material inventory from raw materials to final photovoltaic module is presented, allowing us to identify potential bottlenecks in a future supply chain for a large industrial output. Even at this initial stage of laboratory production, the energy payback time and CO 2 emission factor for the organic photovoltaic technology is of the same order of other inorganic photovoltaic technologies, demonstrating that there is plenty of room for improvement if the fabrication procedure is optimized and scaled up to an industrial process.

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Life cycle assessment and energy pay-back time of advanced photovoltaic modules: CdTe and CIS compared to poly-Si

Cited by 257 publications

References 10 publications

Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status

Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status

Net CO₂ emissions from global photovoltaic development

Life cycle analysis of organic photovoltaic technologies

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Life cycle assessment and energy pay-back time of advanced photovoltaic modules: CdTe and CIS compared to poly-Si

Cited by 257 publications

References 10 publications

Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status

Photovoltaics energy payback times, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs: 2004–early 2005 status

Net CO2 emissions from global photovoltaic development

Life cycle analysis of organic photovoltaic technologies

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Net CO₂ emissions from global photovoltaic development