Life cycle assessment of high-concentration photovoltaic systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasilis M. Fthenakis ◽  
Hyung Chul Kim
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Photovoltaic Systems ◽  
High Concentration

Energy and environmental life cycle assessment of a high concentration photovoltaic power plant in Morocco

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca Corona ◽  
Lidia Escudero ◽  
Goulven Quéméré ◽  
Ignacio Luque-Heredia ◽  
Guillermo San Miguel
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Photovoltaic Power ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of New High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) Modules and Multi-Junction Cells

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 2916
Author(s):  
Jérôme Payet ◽  
Titouan Greffe
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Active Material ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
High Concentration

Worldwide electricity consumption increases by 2.6% each year. Greenhouse gas emissions due to electricity production raise by 2.1% per year on average. The development of efficient low-carbon-footprint renewable energy systems is urgently needed. CPVMatch investigates the feasibility of mirror or lens-based High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) systems. Thanks to innovative four junction solar cells, new glass coatings, Position Sensitive Detectors (PSD), and DC/DC converters, it is possible to reach concentration levels higher than 800× and a module efficiency between 36.7% and 41.6%. From a circular economy’s standpoint, the use of concentration technologies lowers the need in active material, increases recyclability, and reduces the risk of material contamination. By using the Life Cycle Assessment method, it is demonstrated that HCPV presents a carbon footprint ranking between 16.4 and 18.4 g CO2-eq/kWh. A comparison with other energy means for 16 impact categories including primary energy demand and particle emissions points out that the environmental footprint of HCPV is typically 50 to 100 times lower than fossil fuels footprint. HCPV’s footprint is also three times lower than that of crystalline photovoltaic solutions and is close to the environmental performance of wind power and hydropower.

scholarly journals Complete Data Inventory of a Geothermal Power Plant for Robust Cradle-to-Grave Life Cycle Assessment Results

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Tosti ◽  
Nicola Ferrara ◽  
Riccardo Basosi ◽  
Maria Laura Parisi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Impact Category ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Geothermal Systems ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Geothermal Power

Technologies to produce electric energy from renewable geothermal source are gaining increasing attention, due to their ability to provide a stable output suitable for baseload production. Performing life cycle assessment (LCA) of geothermal systems has become essential to evaluate their environmental performance. However, so far, no documented nor reliable information has been made available for developing robust LCA studies. This work provides a comprehensive inventory of the Italian Bagnore geothermal power plants system. The inventory is based exclusively on primary data, accounting for every life cycle stage of the system. Data quality was assessed by means of a pedigree matrix. The calculated LCA results showed, with an overall low level of uncertainty (2–3%), that the commissioning and operational phases accounted for more than 95% of the environmental profile. Direct emissions to atmosphere were shown to be the major environmental impact, particularly those released during the operational phase (84%). The environmental performances comparison with the average Italian electricity mix showed that the balance is always in favor of geothermal energy production, except in the climate change impact category. The overall outcome confirms the importance, for flash technology employing fluid with a high concentration of gas content, of using good quality primary data to obtain robust results.

scholarly journals ENVI-PV: an interactive Web Client for multi-criteria life cycle assessment of photovoltaic systems worldwide

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 484-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Pérez-López ◽  
Benoît Gschwind ◽  
Philippe Blanc ◽  
Rolf Frischknecht ◽  
Philippe Stolz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Photovoltaic Systems
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