Life Cycle Assessment of Disposed and Recycled End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels in Australia

Jasleen Kaur Daljit Singh, Georgina Molinari, Jonathan Bui, Behdad Soltani, Gobinath Pillai Rajarathnam and Ali Abbas
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Jasleen Kaur Daljit Singh: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Georgina Molinari: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Jonathan Bui: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Behdad Soltani: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Gobinath Pillai Rajarathnam: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Ali Abbas: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-16

Abstract: This study presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) of end-of-life (EoL) photovoltaic (PV) systems in Australia. Three different EoL scenarios are considered for 1 kWh of electricity generation across a 30-year PV system lifespan: (i) disposal to landfill, (ii) recycling by laminated glass recycling facility (LGRF), and (iii) recycling by full recovery of EoL photovoltaics (FRELP). It is found that recycling technologies reduce the overall impact score of the cradle-to-grave PV systems from 0.00706 to 0.00657 (for LGRF) and 0.00523 (for FRELP), as measured using the LCA ReCiPe endpoint single score. The CO 2 emissions to air decrease slightly from 0.059 kg CO 2 per kWh (landfill) to 0.054 kg CO 2 per kWh (for LGRF) and 0.046 kg CO 2 per kWh (for FRELP). Increasing the PV system lifespan from 30 years to 50 and 100 years (a hypothetical scenario) improves the ReCiPe endpoint single-score impact from 0.00706 to 0.00424 and 0.00212, respectively, with corresponding CO 2 emissions reductions from 0.059 kg CO 2 per kWh to 0.035 and 0.018 kg CO 2 per kWh, respectively. These results show that employing recycling slightly reduces the environmental impact of the EoL PV systems. It is, however, noted that recycling scenarios do not consider the recycling plant construction step due to a lack of data on these emerging PV panel recycling plants. Accounting for the latter will increase the environmental impact of the recycling scenarios, possibly defeating the purpose of recycling. Increasing the lifespan of the PV systems increases the longevity of the use of panel materials and is therefore favorable towards reducing environmental impacts. Our findings strongly suggest that PV recycling steps and technologies be carefully considered before implementation. More significantly, it is imperative to consider the circular design step up front, where PV systems are designed via circular economy principles such as utility and longevity and are rolled out through circular business models.

Keywords: circular economy; LCA; photovoltaic panels; recycling; circular design; carbon emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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