Assessment of the Carbon Footprint, Social Benefit of Carbon Reduction, and Energy Payback Time of a High-Concentration Photovoltaic System

Allen H. Hu, Lance Hongwei Huang, Sylvia Lou, Chien-Hung Kuo, Chin-Yao Huang, Ke-Jen Chian, Hao-Ting Chien and Hwen-Fen Hong
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Allen H. Hu: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Lance Hongwei Huang: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Sylvia Lou: Environmental Science Technology Consultants Corporation, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Chien-Hung Kuo: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Chin-Yao Huang: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Ke-Jen Chian: Physics Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan 325, Taiwan
Hao-Ting Chien: Physics Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan 325, Taiwan
Hwen-Fen Hong: Physics Division, Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, Taoyuan 325, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Depleting fossil fuel sources and worsening global warming are two of the most serious world problems. Many renewable energy technologies are continuously being developed to overcome these challenges. Among these technologies, high-concentration photovoltaics (HCPV) is a promising technology that reduces the use of expensive photovoltaic materials to achieve highly efficient energy conversion. This reduction process is achieved by adopting concentrating and tracking technologies. This study intends to understand and assess the carbon footprint and energy payback time (EPBT) of HCPV modules during their entire life cycles. The social benefit of carbon reduction is also evaluated as another indicator to assess the energy alternatives. An HCPV module and a tracker from the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) were applied, and SimaPro 8.0.2 was used for the assessment. The functional unit used in this study was 1 kWh, which is produced by HCPV, and inventory data was sourced from Ecoinvent 3.0 and the Taiwan carbon footprint calculation database. The carbon footprint, EPBT, and social benefit of carbon reduction were evaluated as 107.69 g CO 2 eq/kWh, 2.61 years, and 0.022 USD/kWh, respectively. Direct normal irradiation (DNI), life expectancy, and the degradation rate of HCPV system were subjected to sensitivity analysis. Results show that the influence of lifetime assumption under a low DNI value is greater than those under high DNI values. Degradation rate is also another important factor when assessing the carbon footprint of HCPV under a low DNI value and a long lifetime assumption. The findings of this study can provide several insights for the development of the Taiwanese solar industry.

Keywords: high concentration photovoltaics (HCPV); carbon footprint; life cycle assessment; energy payback time (EPBT); direct normal irradiation (DNI); lifetime assumption; social benefit of carbon reduction; 1. Introduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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