Life cycle analysis of PERC architecture for production in Europe

Abstract

The worldwide energy need is increasing and the share of renewable energy sources is too. To generate electricity from renewable sources, no harm to the environment is done. But producing a PV panel is not without emissions. The amount of emissions during production is researched with a life cycle analysis. In the current PV market 75% of the installed capacity is Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC), so this is the cell type that will be analysed. The majority of PV panels are produced in China, but for this study Europe is chosen as the location of production. When panels are produced in Europe the electricity mix of Europe is used, which consists of less fossil fuels and more renewable sources. Production in Europe also Previous LCA studies on solar panels are performed on PERC panels but in Asia, or on Al-BSF panels in Europe. One study is found on a PERC panel produced in Europe, and its inventory is used for this study. The goal of this study is to calculate the impact of producing a PERC PV panel and compare it to other studies on PV panels and to other energy sources. The functional unit is 1 kWh, and the system boundary includes the phases cradle-to-gate. Two inventories are used, one for Al-BSF produced in 2018 and one for PERC produced in 2021. The PERC inventory is then altered to represent a panel produced in 2022, 2023, and 2030. The assessment of the panels is done using IDEMAT and Ecoinvent 3.8.

The results for the PERC panel produced in 2022 are: climate change 1.09E-02kcCO2/kWh, ozone depletion1.09E-08 kg CFC11/kWh, ionising radiation 2.50E-05 kBq U-235/kWh, photochemical ozone formation 4.12E-05 kg NMVOC/kWh, particulate matter 2.69 disease/kWh, non-cancer human health 7.37E-11 CTUh/kWh, cancer human health 2.35E-11 CTUh/kWh, acidification 4.40E-05molH+/kWh, freshwater eutrophication 5.39E-07 kg P/kWh, marine eutrophication 5.12E-06 kg N/kWh, terrestrial eutrophication 5.50E-05 mol N/kWh, ecotoxicity 1.06E-02 CTUe/kWh, land use 1.24E-03 pt/kWh, water use 5.25E-05 m3/kWh, resource use fossil 1.59E-01 MJ/kWh, resource euse mineral & metals 1.29E-06. In terms of climate change a PV panel has lower emissions than wind power and the Europe electricity mix, but higher emissions than nuclear power and hydro power. PV has lower particulate matter emissions than nuclear, wind power, and the Europe electricity mix, and higher than hydro power. For noncancer human health, PV is lower than nuclear and wind power, but higher than hydro power and Europe electricity mix. PV power has a lower amount of acidification than wind power, nuclear power and the Europe electricity mix, but higher than hydro power. For ecotoxicity PV has a lower value than wind power and nuclear power, but higher than hydro power and the Europe electricity mix.