Life cycle energy demand and carbon emissions of scalable single‐junction and tandem perovskite PV

Abstract

Perovskite photovoltaics reached record efficiencies in the laboratory, and if sustainably commercialized, they would accelerate a green energy transition. This article presents the development of life cycle inventory material and energy databases of four most promising single-junction and three tandem scalable perovskite systems with assumptions regarding scalable production validated by industry experts. We conducted comprehensive "ex ante" life cycle analysis (LCA) and net energy analysis, analyzing their cumulative energy demand, global warming potential profiles, energy payback times, and energy return on investment (EROI). LCA contribution analysis elucidates the most impactful material and process choices. It shows that solutionbased perovskite manufacturing would have lower environmental impact than vaporbased methods, and that roll-to-roll (RtR) printing offers the lowest impact. Among material choices, MoOx/Al has lower impact than Ag, and fluorine-tin-oxide lower than indium-tin-oxide. Furthermore, we compare perovskites with commercial crystalline-silicon and thin-film PV, accounting for the most recent developments in crystalline-Si wafer production and differences in life expectancies and efficiencies. It is shown that perovskite systems produced with RtR manufacturing could reach in only 12 years of life, the same EROI as that of single-crystalline-Si PV lasting 30 years. This work lays a foundation for sustainability investigations of perovskite large-scale deployment.

Comment on Seibert, M.K.; Rees, W.E. Through the Eye of a Needle: An Eco-Heterodox Perspective on the Renewable Energy Transition. Energies 2021, 14, 4508

“…As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the energy pay-back time (EPBT) of PV systems has improved by an order of magnitude during 1990-2010 and by almost a factor of 2 during 2015-2020 [58,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][72][73][74]. The latest peer-reviewed LCA calculations [58,63] indicate that, for mono-crystalline Si PV systems, it takes from 0.6 to 1.3 years (depending on the assumed irradiation) to return an amount of electricity that is equivalent to the primary energy invested, whereas, for multi-crystalline Si PV it takes from approximately 0.6 to 1.5 years and, for CdTe PV, it takes 0.5 to 1.1 years.…”

“…Even when the thermal energy required for the manufacturing of RE technologies is primarily supplied by FFs, the overall amount of fossil energy used per unit of delivered energy output is orders of magnitude lower than the amount currently used to generate the same useful energy using conventional technologies. This has been proven beyond any doubt by countless quantitative life cycle assessments (LCA) in the literature, e.g., [57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74]. Secondly, the same statement also incorrectly implies that RE cannot supply the high temperatures used in RE manufacturing.…”

“…Ferroni et al [134] and Prieto et al [135] used flawed methodologies with double counting and unbalanced boundary systems between fossil fuel and solar technologies. These two studies have been amply rebuffed [59,60], but Seibert and Rees did not present the papers that corrected the ones selectively cited, nor did they cite other independent studies pointing out that a renewable energy-based society can deliver the EROI required for long-term stability [62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69].…”

“…Seibert and Rees apparently did not examine the literature on EROI [62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] and did not understand the associated context. Any postulation of a 'minimum' EROI that is supposedly required to support "modern civilization" is problematic, unless the same system boundaries may be reasonably assumed to remain in place consistently across the board of the energy resources being compared, which-critically-would have to include a common 'point of use'.…”

Energy and Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Photovoltaics Transition toward Perovskite–Perovskite Tandems from the Attributional and Consequential Perspectives

“…8 There is a handful of existing literature conducting LCA for single-junction PV technologies, from the first-generation silicon-based PVs, such as crystalline silicon 9 and ribbon silicon, 10 through the second-generation thin-film solar cells that adopt amorphous silicon and/or nonsilicon materials, such as cadmium telluride 11 and copper indium diselenide, 12 to the third-generation PVs using innovative active materials, such as organic PVs, 13 dye-sensitized solar cells, 14 and perovskite solar cells. 15 Recent LCA studies on PVs comparatively analyze the environmental implications among perovskite−silicon tandems, 16 perovskite−perovskite tandems, 4 and the benchmark technologies. However, all these LCA studies investigating the PV technologies are performed from an attributional perspective.…”