Towards life cycle sustainability assessment: an implementation to photovoltaic modules

Traverso, Marzia; Asdrubali, Francesco; Francia, Annalisa; Finkbeiner, Matthias

doi:10.1007/s11367-012-0433-8

Cited by 143 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In this context, the PV industry is working to optimize the quality of its products, both from the technical and the environmental point of view [5] and in order to be competitive in the worldwide market. In order to check the performance of the manufactured PV devices, according to the standard provided by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), PV manufacturers increasingly make use of Sun simulators, a test facility that simulates Sun radiation and checks the efficiency of the PV device under controlled conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sun Simulators: Development of an Innovative Low Cost Film Filter

et al. 2014

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Sun simulators are employed to test the performance of photovoltaic (PV) devices, according to the standard International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61215. Economical and technical analysis show that PV manufacturers need to integrate Sun simulators in the production process and, in particular, at the end of the production chain in order to measure the I-V curve and to evaluate the peak power of PV devices. Sun simulators need specific lamps to simulate the solar spectrum and a specific filter to simulate atmosphere absorbance. Such a filter can cost over €6 per square centimeter. The aim of this work is to develop an alternative filter. In particular, both chemical analysis and spectrophotometric measurements are carried out to evaluate if the Air Mass (AM) 1.5 G filter can be replaced by a cheaper material. Preliminary simulations show how specific compounds coated on a glass surface can absorb the Sun spectrum, such as the AM 1.5 filter, but with lower costs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sun Simulators: Development of an Innovative Low Cost Film Filter

et al. 2014

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“…• The need for data and methods, particularly the lack of (proper and quantitative) SLCA indicators (Klöpffer 2008 ;Finkbeiner et al 2010 ;Traverso et al 2012a ;Hu et al 2013 ;Ostermeyer et al 2013 ;Kucukvar and Tatari 2013 ;Vinyes et al 2013 ;Zamagni et al 2013 ).…”

Section: Main Challenges Identifi Ed In Lcsa Studies So Farmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: What Is It and What Are Its Challenges?

Guinée

2016

Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology

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Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) has developed fast over the last three decades. Today, LCA is widely applied and used as a tool for supporting policies and performance-based regulation, notably concerning bioenergy. Over the past decade, LCA has broadened to also include life cycle costing (LCC) and social LCA (SLCA), drawing on the three-pillar or 'triple bottom line' model of sustainability. With these developments, LCA has broadened from merely environmental assessment to a more comprehensive life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). LCSA has received increasing attention over the past years, while at the same time, its meaning and contents are not always suffi ciently clear. In this chapter, we therefore addressed the question: what are LCSA practitioners actually doing in practice? We distinguished two sub-questions: which defi nition(s) do they adopt and what challenges do they face? To answer these questions, LCSA research published over the past half decade has been analysed, supplemented by a brief questionnaire to researchers and practitioners. This analysis revealed two main defi nitions of LCSA. Based on these two defi nitions, we distinguished three dimensions along which LCSA is expanding when compared to environmental LCA: (1) broadening of impacts, LCSA = LCA + LCC + SLCA; (2) broadening level of analysis, product-, sector-and economy-wide questions and analyses; and (3) deepening, including other than just technological relations, such as physical, economic and behavioural relations. From this analysis, it is clear that the vast majority of LCSA research so far has focused on the 'broadening of impacts' dimension. The challenges most frequently cited concern the need for more practical examples of LCSA, effi cient ways of communicating LCSA results and the need for more data and methods particularly for SLCA indicators and comprehensive uncertainty assessment. We conclude that the three most crucial challenges to be addressed fi rst are developing quantitative and practical indicators for SLCA, life cycle-based approaches to evaluate scenarios for sustainable futures and practical ways to deal with uncertainties and rebound effects.

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“…On the micro-scale, numerous initiatives are being developed for small and medium enterprises [5]: to evaluate the consciousness of consumers regarding sustainable consumption taking into account the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability [6]; to study the sustainability of supply networks in small and medium-sized enterprises [7]; to evaluate companies' commitments in the area of sustainability [8,9]; to promote collaboration between industry and academia within the context of sustainability science [10]; as well as implementing new bachelor's degrees in environmental and engineering sciences to spread Environmentally-responsible consumers are greatly concerned with the environment-related attributes of purchased goods. There is a positive relationship between a consumer's environmental attitudes and the likelihood of assuming environmentally-friendly behavior [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inclusion of Life Cycle Thinking in a Sustainability-Oriented Consumer’s Typology: A Proposed Methodology and an Assessment Tool

et al. 2018

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Abstract:Characterizing consumers in terms of their propensity to practice sustainable consumption represents an interesting research challenge in which a crucial role is played by the questionnaire in terms of its structure and classification criteria. Various classification rules have been proposed in the literature, which can be used to identify consumer types and signify their propensity to practice the principles of sustainable development in daily life. In this paper, we based our approach in designing a classification tool on a combination of two elements: the concept of voluntary simplicity as a pillar for consumer characteristics and the idea of assessing consumers by using filters, in a modified form introducing many new aspects of life-cycle thinking. The tool proposed provides insight into the relationship between the consumer's typology and behavior during purchasing decisions in daily life. The main function of the proposed tool is to assign respondents to one of the proposed consumer types distinguished and characterized in terms of many aspects of life cycle thinking. A pilot survey has been performed in order to verify the proposed tool, and the survey results have been presented in the paper, as well.

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Towards life cycle sustainability assessment: an implementation to photovoltaic modules

Cited by 143 publications

References 13 publications

Sun Simulators: Development of an Innovative Low Cost Film Filter

Sun Simulators: Development of an Innovative Low Cost Film Filter

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: What Is It and What Are Its Challenges?

Inclusion of Life Cycle Thinking in a Sustainability-Oriented Consumer’s Typology: A Proposed Methodology and an Assessment Tool

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