Life cycle assessment and cost analysis of very large-scale PV systems and suitable locations in the world

Ito, Masakazu; Lespinats, Sylvain; Merten, J.; Malbranche, P.; Kurokawa, Kosuke

doi:10.1002/pip.2650

Cited by 44 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…As such, high-voltage transmission infrastructure is usually assumed to lie outside the study boundary for electricity generation NEA [for exceptions, see Ito et al (2008Ito et al ( , 2016]. …”

Section: Transmission Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The so-called III-V semiconductor compounds with gallium arsenide (GaAs) or similar substrates allow production of high-efficiency multi-layer cells, but are currently used in niche applications only. Process analyses for thin-film technologies calculate an EPBT of around half that of crystalline Si (Ito et al 2016;Fthenakis and Kim 2011). Findings from a meta-study by Bhandari et al (2015, Fig.…”

Section: Pv Cell Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many LCA studies explicitly identify the insolation as being inplane (e.g. de Wild-Scholten 2013; Ito et al 2016, also refer to horizontal insolation in relation to an 'average' 1700 kWh/m 2 year insolation (e.g. Fthenakis and Kim 2011;Phylipsen and Alsema 1995, p. 42).…”

Section: Insolationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Palmer

Floyd²

2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

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Solar photovoltaics (PV) is widely regarded as one of the most promising renewable energy technologies. Net energy analysis (NEA) is a tool to evaluate the energetic performance of all energy supply technologies, including solar PV. Results across studies can appear to diverge sharply, which leads to contestation of NEA's relevance to energy transition feasibility assessment and contributes to ongoing uncertainty in relation to the critical issue of the sustainability of PV. This study explores how PV NEA approaches differ, including in relation to goal definitions, methodologies and boundaries of analysis. It focuses on two principal NEA metrics, energy return on investment (EROI) and energy payback time (EPBT). Here we show that most of the apparent divergence between studies is accounted for by six factors-life-cycle assessment methodology, age of the primary data, PV cell technology, the treatment of intermittency, equivalence of investment and output energy forms, and assumptions about real-world performance. The apparent divergence in findings between studies can often be traced back to different goal definitions. This study reviews the differing approaches and makes the case that NEA is important for assessing the role of PV in future energy systems, but that findings in the form of EROI or EPBT must be considered with specific reference to the details of the particular study context, and the research questions that it seeks to address. NEA findings in a particular context cannot definitively support general statements about EROI or EPBT of PV electricity in all contexts.

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Section: Transmission Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pv Cell Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Palmer

Floyd²

2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

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“…Solar energy has great potential for mitigating greenhouse‐gas (GHG) emissions by replacing the burning of fossil fuels (see Ito et al . ; Fthenakis and Kim ; Whitaker et al . , to compare life‐cycle assessments of global warming potentials).…”

Section: Concept 1: Usse Exists Within the Land‐energy‐ecology Nexusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of utility‐scale solar energy – critical ecological concepts

Moore‐O’Leary

Hernandez

Johnston

et al. 2017

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Renewable energy development is an arena where ecological, political, and socioeconomic values collide. Advances in renewable energy will incur steep environmental costs to landscapes in which facilities are constructed and operated. Scientists – including those from academia, industry, and government agencies – have only recently begun to quantify trade‐offs in this arena, often using ground‐mounted, utility‐scale solar energy facilities (USSE, ≥1 megawatt) as a model. Here, we discuss five critical ecological concepts applicable to the development of more sustainable USSE with benefits over fossil‐fuel‐generated energy: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful evaluation of trade‐offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large‐scale ecological impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects different types of ecosystems and requires customized design and management strategies; and (5) long‐term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites must be carefully considered. These critical concepts provide a framework for reducing adverse environmental impacts, informing policy to establish and address conservation priorities, and improving energy production sustainability.

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“…Various types of cells exist, however by far the most common type are silicon-based single junction cells with commercial products reaching 20% conversion efficiency at module prices below 0.50 EUR per W peak power [10]. Solar thermal energy harvesting by means of thermal collectors is a parallel technology which is relatively mature in Europe but has the drawback a large amount of heat goes unused during warm summer months when demand bottoms out.…”

Section: -Renewable Energy Integration -Our Home As a Powerplantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy in buildings: Efficiency, renewables and storage

Koebel

2017

EPJ Web Conf.

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Summary. -This lecture summary provides a short but comprehensive overview on the "energy and buildings" topic. Buildings account for roughly 40% of the global energy demands. Thus, an increased adoption of existing and upcoming materials and solutions for the building sector represents an enormous potential to reduce building related energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions. The central question is how the building envelope (insulation, fenestration, construction style, solar control) affects building energy demands. Compared to conventional insulation materials, superinsulation materials such as vacuum insulation panels and silica aerogel achieve the same thermal performance with significantly thinner insulation layers. With low-emissivity coatings and appropriate filler gasses, double and triple glazing reduce thermal losses by up to an order of magnitude compared to old single pane windows, while vacuum insulation and aerogel filled glazing could reduce these even further. Electrochromic and other switchable glazing solutions maximize solar gains during wintertime and minimize illumination demands whilst avoiding overheating in summer. Upon integration of renewable energy systems into the building energy supply, buildings can become both producers and consumers of energy. Combined with dynamic user behavior, temporal variations in the production of renewable energy require appropriate storage solutions, both thermal and electrical, and the integration of buildings into smart grids and energy district networks. The combination of these measures allows a reduction of the existing building stock by roughly a factor of three -a promising, but cost intensive way, to prepare our buildings for the energy turnaround.( * ) Email: matthias.koebel@empa.ch, www.empa.ch

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Life cycle assessment and cost analysis of very large-scale PV systems and suitable locations in the world

Cited by 44 publications

References 25 publications

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Sustainability of utility‐scale solar energy – critical ecological concepts

Energy in buildings: Efficiency, renewables and storage

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