Environmental impact of PV cell waste scenario

Bogacka, Magdalena; Pikoń, Krzysztof; Landrat, Marcin

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2017.09.007

Cited by 50 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The principles found in studies that tried to define the concept of "circular economy" include 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle) and sustainable design strategies (SDS) [43]. In addition to 3Rs, the design of the PV module or BOS needs to be modified to consider the possibility of 3R after PV panels reach end-of-life [44], because "component reuse has smaller close-loop life cycle paths than material recycling and generally have better environmental and economic performances" [16].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

Kim

Park

2018

Sustainability

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The South Korean government’s renewable energy deployment plan aims to increase the share of electricity generated from renewables to 20% by 2030. To reach this goal, the rate of photovoltaic (PV) installation will accelerate in the coming years. This energy transition creates a new challenge: PV wastes. This study estimates the amount of PV waste generated, the material composition of PV waste, and the amount of recyclable metals in South Korea by 2080 under four different scenarios (combining shape parameters of 5.3759 [regular-loss] and 3.5 [early-loss] with PV module lifespans of 25 and 30 years) using the Weibull distribution function. The annual waste generated will fluctuate over time depending on the scenario, but between 4299 and 5764 thousand tons of PV waste will have been generated by 2080. Under the early-loss/25-year lifespan scenario, annual PV waste generation will increase to exceed 130,000 tons in 2045, then decrease through 2063 before increasing once again. The fluctuation in annual PV waste generation appears stronger under regular-loss scenarios. An appropriate system for the monitoring, collection, and storage of PV waste needs to be arranged even before the volume becomes high enough for recycling to be economically viable. International cooperation could be a way to maintain the PV waste stream at an economically feasible scale. It would also be a good idea if the PV module could be designed in a way that would enable easier recycling or reuse.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

Kim

Park

2018

Sustainability

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“…The liquid fraction (pyrolysis oil) was subjected to a qualitative analysis, and the absorption tube with activated carbon and XAD-2 polymer (absorbed organic compounds) and the content of muds (presence of chloride, bromine, and fluorine compounds) underwent a quantitative analysis. The results provided in the tables refer to the amount of gas obtained during the measurement, i.e., 0.045 m 3 . Table 2 presents the results of the quantitative analysis of the absorption tube made of activated carbon conducted in order to determine the total hydrocarbon content using the gas chromatography (GC-FID) method for toluene (sample P1/1).…”

Section: Pyrolysis Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the regulations, WEEE is still not managed properly, and the recycling rate is extremely low around the world. Regarding the issues of the main technologies for recycling of PV waste, intertwined gaps, issues and complexities are often revealed [1,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PV Waste Thermal Treatment According to the Circular Economy Concept

et al. 2020

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Photovoltaic panels (PV) are one of the most popular technological solutions used to produce green renewable energy. They are known as green technology, but by analyzing a life cycle of a common panel, we can find out that production of these panels is strictly associated with generation of a large waste stream. PV modules are constantly modified and, therefore, it is required to consider the impact of the applied materials on the environment during the whole lifecycle of the product. The most important aspect of the assessment of a life cycle of a photovoltaic module in the phase of decommissioning is material recycling. The process of material recycling is very difficult, due to the lamination used in the currently exploited technology. This paper presents the results of pyrolysis for a sample of a silicon module. The results of the presented research show a weight loss of 48.16 in case of the tested samples. This paper presents the outcome of a quantitative analysis of the content of polycyclic aromatic for liquid and concentrations of Br, Cl and F for a gaseous fraction of pyrolysis products. The goal of the research presented in the paper was to find the optimal parameters for thermal separation, as well as the influence of the energy consumption and materials separation efficiency on the final thermal efficiency of the process.

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“…However, the EU directive of waste of electric and electronic equipment included the PV component in the list of materials which require a proper end of life treatment since 2012 [48]. Moreover, the end of life treatment is becoming increasingly important since the expected increase of PV waste in the next decades [44,49]. For these reasons, the system boundaries of this study were extended until the recycling treatment, using as primary energy and emission factors the values 2780 MJ and 370 kg CO 2 e per tonne of silicon photovoltaic waste, respectively.…”

Section: System Boundaries and Functional Unitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2018

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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 CO2e/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 CO2e per kWh, while the smallest one achieves 124.1 g CO2e 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.

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Environmental impact of PV cell waste scenario

Cited by 50 publications

References 6 publications

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

PV Waste Management at the Crossroads of Circular Economy and Energy Transition: The Case of South Korea

PV Waste Thermal Treatment According to the Circular Economy Concept

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

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