Given the rising research of thin film solar cells in recent years, flexible technology has been proven to be more light weight and cost effective. As photovoltaics is increasingly becoming the front runner in sustainable energy production, concerns over the associated impacts of solar modules throughout their life cycle are also increasing. This study quantifies the environmental impacts through LCA analysis for Roll-to-Roll (R2R) production process of thin film flexible silicon-based solar modules manufactured by a Dutch company HyET in The Netherlands.

This study considers three product lines over a life cycle demarcated into its manufacturing, encapsulation and installation. The three product lines (cases) are as follows.
1. Single junction a-Si with 7% efficiency.
2. a-Si/nc-Si tandem cell with 10% efficiency
3. a-Si/nc-Si tandem cell with 12% efficiency
The installation phase considers a rooftop setup of capacity of 2.1 kWp with Balance of System (BoS) components.

LCA analysis is carried out on Simapro 9.1.0.11 following the guidelines and the framework of International Organization for Standardization ISO14044. The outcome of LCA analysis is measured in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP), Primary Energy Demand (PED) and Energy Pay Back Time (EPBT). Ecoinvent 3.5 is used as the primary database for these analyses to select the inventory. GWP is assessed using the CML-IA baseline method while PED is assessed using Cumulative energy demand v1.11 method. Sensitivity analysis is done by changing the location of production and up-scaling capacity.

The installation stage is observed to contribute the highest GWP and also has the highest PED on account of BoS components. The LCA analysis has demonstrated similar trends of GWP, PED for all three product lines. EPBT on the other hand, is longer for 10% tandem cell on account of relatively larger module area as compared to 12% tandem cell and also the relatively higher energy consumption as compared to the single junction cell. The choice of substrate material is seen to impact the assessment indicators significantly. Flexible glass is observed to be the optimal choice for large-scale production. The choice of encapsulant material also affects the indicators demonstrably. Sensitivity analysis shows a positive impact on the indicators through up-scaling, while the location is not established as a significant factor sufficiently under considered assumptions.