Environmental impacts of small-scale hybrid energy systems: Coupling solar photovoltaics and lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

One of the benefits of hybrid solar PV-battery systems is that they can reduce grid dependency and help balance electricity supply and demand. However, their environmental impacts and benefits remain underexplored. This study considers for the first time life cycle environmental impacts of domestic-scale PV-battery systems in Turkey, integrating multi-crystalline PV and lithium-ion battery. The impacts were estimated for both individual installations and at the national level, considering different regions across the country and taking into account their insolation and other climatic differences. Electricity generation and storage were modelled on an hourly basis taking into account consumer behaviour. The results show that the system can meet between 12.5% and 18.4% of the household's annual electricity needs. On a life cycle basis, it generates 4.7-8 times more energy than it consumes. Solar PV is the major contributor to most impacts (75%-81%). An exception is human toxicity which is mainly due to the battery (66%). The hybrid system has 1.6-82.6 times lower impacts than grid electricity. Assuming a very modest uptake at the national level (2%-8%), the use of hybrid systems would save 558,000 t CO-eq./yr compared to grid electricity. Thus, these results demonstrate clearly the environmental benefits of these hybrid systems. Together with the financial and energy security benefits for both the country and the consumer, this provides a strong impetus for their wider deployment. However, this will be difficult to achieve, as there are no incentives for battery storage. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant legislation be introduced to stimulate future uptake of hybrid PV-battery systems.

Standalone Photovoltaic Direct Pumping in Urban Water Pressurized Networks with Energy Storage in Tanks or Batteries

“…Tanks are of paramount importance in WPNs [45] because of their use as water storage (filled during the day while it empties, releasing the volume at night) for daily use and in emergencies, but they present inconveniences regarding higher water age and higher energy consumption [49], and some approaches have considered the effect of tanks in the indirect water supply [50]. Recent works highlight batteries as an environmental alternative [51][52][53] in many types of standalone PV systems [54], to concentrate the solar energy to a higher power, and to solve irregularities in the solar irradiation [55]. Some approaches have also analyzed PV hybrid solutions (the electric power grid vs. diesel and photovoltaic generators) [56].…”

Optimization of Copper Removal by Photovoltaic Electrocoagulation from Aqueous Solution Using Response Surface Methodology Towards Sustainable Development

“…Alternatively, the coupling of these two technologies, electrocoagulation and PV with battery storage can provide a useful system and show many advantages, such as no requirement to be connected to an electric grid [Montiel et al, 2018] and low carbon emissions [Üçtuğ and Azapagic, 2018]. The research of Pirkarami et al illustrated the removal of organic compounds: acid orange 2, reactive blue 19 [Pirkarami et al, 2013], phenol, and aldehydes in the wastewater of a resin factory [Olya and Pirkarami, 2013] with the use of a solar PV -EC with a battery system to save 17% of the total costs.…”

“…Lithium-ion batteries are an accessible technology with benefits over metal-acid ones, such as improved lifespan, faster charge and environmental friendliness [Üçtuğ and Azapagic, 2018]. Liang et al compared the global warming potential (GWP) of lithium-ion and GWP of nickel metal hydride batteries and illustrated that the lithium batteries generated ten times less CO 2 Table 4.…”

Cross-Scale Water and Land Impacts of Local Climate and Energy Policy—A Local Swedish Analysis of Selected SDG Interactions

“…Cross-scale and multi-resource interactions and implications are less explored. Life-cycle assessments (LCA) consider embedded resource use in energy commodities [38][39][40], but typically focus on one or few fuels. Where the LCA scope has been broadened to include multiple fuel/energy uses, it only considers the GHG emissions of the local energy use [41].…”