Abstract
SUMMARY OF THE ABSTRACT
In recent decades, great progress has been made on the performance, cost and reliability of photovoltaic (PV) devices. These developments, combined with a growing awareness of the importance of sustainable energy, have led to large scale implementation of PV in the energy system. Predictions of PV deployment in 2050 range from 20 to 100 TWp, representing the additional installation of billions of PV devices. Although the environmental impact of PV electricity generation is comparatively low, the addition of such a large number of modules still has a considerable impact [1]. Therefore, further improvement of the environmental sustainability of PV systems is a very important factor.
Many references, like [2] have reported on the environmental impact of PV modules, while the application and integration of PV devices has been studied only scarcely. However, PV integration is crucial for societal acceptance of PV as well as for the efficient and multifunctional use of a wide range of surfaces. In this study, the environmental impact of three cases has been calculated:
• Building Integrated PV (BIPV) steel rooftile with integrated flexible CIGS semifabricates produced by mass customization production line, including cabling “Integrated CIGS”
• Building Applied PV (BAPV) of rigid CIGS modules, including ceramic roof tiles and cabling “Rigid CIGS” (as benchmark)
• BAPV of rigid crystalline silicon modules, including ceramic roof tiles and cabling “Rigid x-Si” (as benchmark)
For all systems, the environmental effect has been calculated for a number of impact categories (see Table 1). For the carbon footprint, this resulted in 363, 837 and 1175 kg CO2-eq/kWp for the “Integrated CIGS”, “Rigid CIGS” and “Rigid x-Si” categories respectively. The integrated CIGS based roof tile thus greatly outperforms both BAPV systems based on rigid modules. For these systems, the largest share of the carbon footprint was attributed to the PV modules (407 and 810 kg CO2-eq/ kWp) while the installation contributes secondly. Here, the Integrated CIGS also clearly has a lower carbon footprint than the rigid systems.
Assuming a lifetime of 30 years, a degradation rate of 0.5% per year and a yield of 0.94 kWh/Wp (average determined for the Netherlands), the carbon footprint, including rooftiles, inverter and cabling was less than 20 gram CO2 eq/kWh for the complete Integrated CIGS system. This is about 30 times lower than the current Dutch electricity mix.
In recent decades, great progress has been made on the performance, cost and reliability of photovoltaic (PV) devices. These developments, combined with a growing awareness of the importance of sustainable energy, have led to large scale implementation of PV in the energy system. Predictions of PV deployment in 2050 range from 20 to 100 TWp, representing the additional installation of billions of PV devices. Although the environmental impact of PV electricity generation is comparatively low, the addition of such a large number of modules still has a considerable impact [1]. Therefore, further improvement of the environmental sustainability of PV systems is a very important factor.
Many references, like [2] have reported on the environmental impact of PV modules, while the application and integration of PV devices has been studied only scarcely. However, PV integration is crucial for societal acceptance of PV as well as for the efficient and multifunctional use of a wide range of surfaces. In this study, the environmental impact of three cases has been calculated:
• Building Integrated PV (BIPV) steel rooftile with integrated flexible CIGS semifabricates produced by mass customization production line, including cabling “Integrated CIGS”
• Building Applied PV (BAPV) of rigid CIGS modules, including ceramic roof tiles and cabling “Rigid CIGS” (as benchmark)
• BAPV of rigid crystalline silicon modules, including ceramic roof tiles and cabling “Rigid x-Si” (as benchmark)
For all systems, the environmental effect has been calculated for a number of impact categories (see Table 1). For the carbon footprint, this resulted in 363, 837 and 1175 kg CO2-eq/kWp for the “Integrated CIGS”, “Rigid CIGS” and “Rigid x-Si” categories respectively. The integrated CIGS based roof tile thus greatly outperforms both BAPV systems based on rigid modules. For these systems, the largest share of the carbon footprint was attributed to the PV modules (407 and 810 kg CO2-eq/ kWp) while the installation contributes secondly. Here, the Integrated CIGS also clearly has a lower carbon footprint than the rigid systems.
Assuming a lifetime of 30 years, a degradation rate of 0.5% per year and a yield of 0.94 kWh/Wp (average determined for the Netherlands), the carbon footprint, including rooftiles, inverter and cabling was less than 20 gram CO2 eq/kWh for the complete Integrated CIGS system. This is about 30 times lower than the current Dutch electricity mix.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 17 Sept 2023 |
| Event | 40th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, EU PVSEC 2023 - Lisbon Congress Centre – CCL, Lisbon, Portugal Duration: 17 Sept 2023 → 22 Sept 2023 Conference number: 40 https://www.eupvsec.org/index.php |
Conference
| Conference | 40th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, EU PVSEC 2023 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Portugal |
| City | Lisbon |
| Period | 17/09/23 → 22/09/23 |
| Internet address |
