This book provides a detailed life cycle assessment of photovoltaic technologies in order to analyse the environmental and socioeconomic impacts that a large deployment of solar photovoltaic systems will produce in the near future.
Including both commercial and emerging technologies, the book presents the energy and materials requirements to manufacture solar electricity power systems at the order of the TeraWatt scale deployment as is envisaged by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for the near future. It discusses current manufacturing practices and how these may be adapted in the future including:
- reuse and recycling of components and materials;
- raw material supply chains to the manufacturing factories; and
- end-of-life procedures including recycling and landfilling of modules.
The environmental and socioeconomic impacts of solar energy are analysed in detail, providing recommendations for standardization and regulations in order to make photovoltaic technologies, both current and emerging, a really sustainable alternative for the supply of “greener” electricity.
Author(s): Antonio Urbina
Series: Green Energy and Technology
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 308
City: Cham
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Contents
Acronyms
Part I Introduction
1 Scenarios for Solar Electricity at the TeraWatt Scale
1.1 Evolution of Installed Photovoltaic Capacity
1.2 Photovoltaics in the Scenarios of the International Energy Agency
1.3 The TeraWatt Scale of Photovoltaic Deployment: Is There Any Limit?
References
2 Photovoltaic Technology
2.1 Introduction to the Physics of Solar Cells: Power Conversion from Sun to Electricity
2.1.1 A Brief History of the Development of the Solar Cell
2.1.2 Solar Radiation
2.1.3 Metals and Semiconductors
2.1.4 Equivalent Circuit and Parameters of the Solar Cell
2.2 The Basic Structure of a Solar Cell
2.2.1 Active Layers
2.2.2 Electrodes
2.2.3 Transporting Layers
2.3 Classification of PV Technologies
References
3 Assessment of Sustainability
3.1 Environmental Sustainability: Life Cycle Assessment Applied to Energy Systems
3.1.1 Goal and Scope of the LCA
3.1.2 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) Phase
3.1.3 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) Phase
3.1.4 Life Cycle Interpretation Phase
3.2 Socioeconomic Sustainability: Energy and Sustainable Development
3.2.1 Life Cycle Costing and Total Cost of Ownership
3.2.2 Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE)
3.2.3 Value-Adjusted Levelized Cost of Electricity (VALCOE)
3.2.4 Circular Economy, Environmental Footprints and Sustainable Development
References
Part II Life Cycle Assessment of Solar Electricity
4 Production of PV Modules
4.1 Crystalline Silicon Technology
4.1.1 Silicon Processing: From Raw Material to Solar Grade Ingots
4.1.2 Crystalline Solar Cell Manufacture
4.2 Thin Film Technologies
4.2.1 Amorphous Silicon
4.2.2 Cadmium Telluride
4.2.3 Chalcopyrites and Kesterites
4.3 III-V Technologies
4.4 Organic and Hybrid Emerging Technologies
4.4.1 Organic Bulk Heterojunctions
4.4.2 Dye Sensitized
4.4.3 Perovskites
4.5 From Cells to Modules
References
5 The Limits of Raw Materials Embedded in PV Modules
5.1 Silicon Feedstock and Other Raw Materials Embedded in the PV Cells
5.2 Glass, Plastics and Frames for the PV Modules
5.3 Strategic and Scarce Materials Embedded in PV Modules
5.4 Polluting and Toxic Materials Embedded in PV Modules and Used in Its Manufacturing Process
5.4.1 Silicon Mining and Processing Risks
5.4.2 Cadmium Toxicity
5.4.3 Lead Toxicity
5.4.4 Sulphur Hexafluoride Environmental Damage
References
6 The Energy Balance of Solar Electricity
6.1 Embedded Energy in Photovoltaic Systems
6.1.1 Embedded Energy in the Processing of Materials
6.1.2 Embedded Energy in the Manufacturing of Modules
6.2 Solar Electricity Production of a Photovoltaic System
6.2.1 Electricity Production and Yield
6.2.2 Lifetime of Photovoltaic Systems
6.3 Energy Payback Time and Energy Return on (Energy) Investment
6.3.1 Energy Payback Time Definition
6.3.2 Technology Dependence of the Energy Payback Time
6.3.3 Geographical Dependence of the Energy Payback Time
6.3.4 Energy Return on (Energy) Investment
References
7 Impacts of Solar Electricity
7.1 Human Health Impacts
7.2 Environmental Impacts
7.3 Land use, Water, Mineral, Fossil and Renewable Depletion Impacts
7.4 The Rapidly Evolving Impacts of Emerging PV Technologies
7.5 Size Dependant Impacts of PV Systems …
7.6 Impacts of Module Transportation During Manufacture, Installation and End of Life
References
8 Recycling and End of Life of PV Technologies
8.1 Reusing PV Modules
8.2 Recycling PV Modules: Recovery of Components and Materials
8.3 Recovery and Reuse of Substances Required for PV Module Manufacture
References
9 Balance of System (BoS) and Storage
9.1 Life Cycle Assessment of BoS Electronic Components
9.2 Life Cycle Assessment of BoS Structural and Mechanical Components
9.3 Introduction to Electricity Storage for PV Systems
9.3.1 Electricity Storage Technologies
9.3.2 Battery Technologies
9.4 Overview of Life Cycle Assessment Applied to Batteries
9.4.1 Phases in LCA for Batteries
9.4.2 Phases in LCA Including Second Life of Batteries
9.4.3 Results of LCA for Batteries
References
Part III Beyond Life Cycle Assessment: Socioeconomics and Geopolitics of Solar Electricity
10 Socioeconomic Impacts of Solar Electricity
10.1 Cost of Ownership of Photovoltaic Systems
10.2 The Cost of Solar Electricity: A Steady Learning Curve
10.3 The Cost of Electricity Storage in Batteries
10.4 Employment Opportunities Linked to the Solar Electricity Sector
References
11 Standardization and Regulations for PV Technologies
11.1 International Technical Standards for Photovoltaic Technology and Life Cycle Assessment
11.1.1 International Organization for Standardization
11.1.2 International Electrotechnical Commission
11.1.3 Other International and National Standardization Organizations
11.2 Regulatory Frameworks for Production, Recycling and End of Life of PV Modules
11.2.1 China
11.2.2 European Union
11.2.3 United States of America
11.2.4 Other Countries
11.3 Ecodesign, Ecolabelling and Green Public Procurement
11.3.1 Ecodesign
11.3.2 Ecolabelling
11.3.3 Green Public Procurement
References
12 Solar Electricity and Globalization
12.1 World Electricity Consumption Per Cápita
12.2 Access to Energy and Development
12.3 Solar Electricity for Rural Electrification …
12.4 Mitigation of Climate Change: From Kyoto Protocol to Paris Agreement and Beyond
12.5 Geopolitics of Photovoltaics
References
Appendix Conclusions
Index
