Embodied Energy and Environmental Impact of Large-Power Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Irrigation Systems

Giuseppe Todde, Lelia Murgia, Isaac Carrelo, Rita Hogan, Antonio Pazzona, Luigi Ledda and Luis Narvarte
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Giuseppe Todde: Department of Agricultural Science, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Lelia Murgia: Department of Agricultural Science, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Isaac Carrelo: PV Systems Research Group, Instituto de Energía Solar, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Rita Hogan: PV Systems Research Group, Instituto de Energía Solar, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Antonio Pazzona: Department of Agricultural Science, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Luigi Ledda: Department of Agricultural Science, University of Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Luis Narvarte: PV Systems Research Group, Instituto de Energía Solar, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: A life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was used to evaluate the cumulative energy demand and the related environmental impact of three large-power stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) irrigation systems ranging from 40 kWp to 360 kWp. The novelty of this analysis is the large power of these systems as the literature up to now is restricted to modeled PV pumping systems scenarios or small power plants, where the size can be a critical factor for energy and environmental issues. The analysis shows that the yearly embodied energy per unit of PV power ranged from 1306 MJ/kWp to 1199 MJ/kWp depending of the PV generator size. Similarly, the related yearly carbon dioxide impacts ranged from 72.6 to 79.8 kg CO 2 e/kWp. The production of PV modules accounted for the main portion (about 80%) of the primary energy embodied into the PV irrigation system (PVIS). The outcomes of the study also show an inverse trend of the energy and carbon payback times respect to the PV power size: In fact, energy payback time increased from 1.94, to 5.25 years and carbon payback time ranged from 4.62 to 9.38 years. Also the energy return on investment depends on the PV generator dimension, ranging from 12.9 to 4.8. The environmental impact of the stand-alone PV systems was also expressed in reference to the potential amount of electricity generated during the whole PV life. As expected, the largest PVIS performs the best result, obtaining an emission rate of 45.9 g CO 2 e per kWh, while the smallest one achieves 124.1 g CO 2 e per kWh. Finally, the energy and environmental indicators obtained in this study are strongly related to the irrigation needs, which in turn are influenced by other factors as the type of cultivated crops, the weather conditions and the water availability.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; solar energy; PV water pumping; GHG agriculture; diesel fuel; electricity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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