Environmental impacts of PV technology throughout the life cycle: Importance of the end-of-life management for Si-panels and CdTe-panels

Michela Vellini, Marco Gambini and Valentina Prattella

Energy, 2017, vol. 138, issue C, 1099-1111

Abstract: This study quantitatively assesses the life-cycle environmental impacts of 1 mˆ2 of Si and CdTe Photovoltaic module. GaBi LCA software is applied to establish the LCA model and to perform the calculation, and CML 2001 baseline method is chosen to quantify the environmental impacts. The comparative analysis shows that CdTe technology requires less energy and material resources than Si technology resulting in a reduction of all impacts related to polluting emissions and to material resources consumption. Instead, the human, aquatic and terrestrial toxicity environmental impacts are particularly high for the CdTe panels because they are made of toxic materials. The study highlights the importance of the recycling process at the end of life which involves the recovering of raw materials, a decrease of energy demand and a reduction of emissions of materials that would be harmful to the environment if discharged in landfills. The analysis finally shows the sustainability of these photovoltaic systems through the evaluation of EPBT indicator. The energy pay-back time was calculated carrying out a parametric analysis, varying the main variables, and providing a framework as detailed as possible of the results obtained.

Keywords: LCA - Life cycle assessment; Photovoltaic panels; Recycling process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:138:y:2017:i:c:p:1099-1111

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.07.031

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