Life cycle sustainability assessment of solar photovoltaic modules
A comparison between monocrystalline and CdTe thin-film technologies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24979/ambiente.v1i1.933Keywords:
Sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment, Solar energy, Photovoltaic modulesAbstract
In the context of sustainable development, the current worldwide energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy needs to meet, besides economic criteria, environmental and social criteria. Against this background, the present paper assesses the sustainability of solar photovoltaic technologies along their life cycle. With this aim in mind, it carries out a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) in order to compare the environmental, social, and economic performance of monocrystalline (mono-Si) and cadmium-telluride (CdTe) thin-film modules against six sustainability criteria: ecosystem quality, global warming, human longevity and health, intergenerational equity, payback period, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). In this analysis, the system boundaries encompass the extraction and processing of the raw materials, the production of components of the solar photovoltaic modules, transport activities required for their importation, and the operation and the end of life of the solar photovoltaic modules. According to our results, the CdTe thin-film technology proved to be the best option for sustainability as it stood out in the environmental and social dimensions. At the same time, mono-Si technology obtained the best economic performance.Downloads
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