IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v87y2010i12p3625-3631.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental payback time analysis of a roof-mounted building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system in Hong Kong

Author

Listed:
  • Lu, L.
  • Yang, H.X.

Abstract

This paper reports the investigation results of the energy payback time (EPBT) and greenhouse-gas payback time (GPBT) of a rooftop BIPV system (grid-connected) in Hong Kong to measure its sustainability. The 22 kWp PV array is facing south with inclined angle of 22.5°. The hourly solar irradiance and ambient air temperature from 1996 to 2000 were used as weather data input. The annual power output was found to be 28,154 kWh. The embodied energy for the whole system in the lifespan was 205,816 kWh, including 71% from PV modules and 29% from balance of system (BOS). The percentage of embodied energy for silicon purification and processing reached 46%. The EPBT of the PV system was 7.3 years, and the GPBT was estimated to be 5.2 years considering fuel mixture composition of local power stations. This paper also discussed the EPBTs for different orientations, ranging from 7.1 years (optimal orientation) to 20.0 years (west-facing vertical PV façade). The results show that the [`]sustainability' of a PV system is affected by its installation orientation and location. Choosing locations and orientations with higher incident solar irradiance is one key for the sustainability of BIPV technology applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, L. & Yang, H.X., 2010. "Environmental payback time analysis of a roof-mounted building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system in Hong Kong," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 3625-3631, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:87:y:2010:i:12:p:3625-3631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306-2619(10)00225-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crawford, R.H. & Treloar, G.J. & Fuller, R.J. & Bazilian, M., 2006. "Life-cycle energy analysis of building integrated photovoltaic systems (BiPVs) with heat recovery unit," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(6), pages 559-575, December.
    2. Fthenakis, Vasilis M. & Kim, Hyung Chul, 2007. "Greenhouse-gas emissions from solar electric- and nuclear power: A life-cycle study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2549-2557, April.
    3. Chow, T.T. & Chan, A.L.S. & Fong, K.F. & Lin, Z. & He, W. & Ji, J., 2009. "Annual performance of building-integrated photovoltaic/water-heating system for warm climate application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(5), pages 689-696, May.
    4. Li, Danny H.W. & Lam, Tony N.T. & Chan, Wilco W.H. & Mak, Ada H.L., 2009. "Energy and cost analysis of semi-transparent photovoltaic in office buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(5), pages 722-729, May.
    5. Krauter, S & Rüther, R, 2004. "Considerations for the calculation of greenhouse gas reduction by photovoltaic solar energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 345-355.
    6. Battisti, Riccardo & Corrado, Annalisa, 2005. "Evaluation of technical improvements of photovoltaic systems through life cycle assessment methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 952-967.
    7. Raugei, Marco & Bargigli, Silvia & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2007. "Life cycle assessment and energy pay-back time of advanced photovoltaic modules: CdTe and CIS compared to poly-Si," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1310-1318.
    8. Nawaz, I. & Tiwari, G.N., 2006. "Embodied energy analysis of photovoltaic (PV) system based on macro- and micro-level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 3144-3152, November.
    9. Li, Danny H.W. & Cheung, Gary H.W., 2005. "Study of models for predicting the diffuse irradiance on inclined surfaces," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 170-186, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peng, Jinqing & Lu, Lin & Yang, Hongxing, 2013. "Review on life cycle assessment of energy payback and greenhouse gas emission of solar photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 255-274.
    2. Ravikumar, Dwarakanath & Wender, Ben & Seager, Thomas P. & Fraser, Matthew P. & Tao, Meng, 2017. "A climate rationale for research and development on photovoltaics manufacture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 245-256.
    3. Tiantian Zhang & Meng Wang & Hongxing Yang, 2018. "A Review of the Energy Performance and Life-Cycle Assessment of Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-34, November.
    4. Cucchiella, Federica & D'Adamo, Idiano, 2012. "Estimation of the energetic and environmental impacts of a roof-mounted building-integrated photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 5245-5259.
    5. Kaldellis, J.K. & Zafirakis, D. & Kondili, E., 2009. "Optimum autonomous stand-alone photovoltaic system design on the basis of energy pay-back analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1187-1198.
    6. Tiwari, G.N. & Mishra, R.K. & Solanki, S.C., 2011. "Photovoltaic modules and their applications: A review on thermal modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(7), pages 2287-2304, July.
    7. Zhang, Da & Tang, Songlin & Lin, Bao & Liu, Zhen & Zhang, Xiliang & Zhang, Danwei, 2012. "Co-benefit of polycrystalline large-scale photovoltaic power in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 436-442.
    8. Abolhosseini, Shahrouz & Heshmati, Almas & Altmann, Jörn, 2014. "A Review of Renewable Energy Supply and Energy Efficiency Technologies," IZA Discussion Papers 8145, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Carnevale, E. & Lombardi, L. & Zanchi, L., 2014. "Life Cycle Assessment of solar energy systems: Comparison of photovoltaic and water thermal heater at domestic scale," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 434-446.
    10. Colombo, Emanuela & Rocco, Matteo V. & Toro, Claudia & Sciubba, Enrico, 2015. "An exergy-based approach to the joint economic and environmental impact assessment of possible photovoltaic scenarios: A case study at a regional level in Italy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 318(C), pages 64-74.
    11. Ludin, Norasikin Ahmad & Mustafa, Nur Ifthitah & Hanafiah, Marlia M. & Ibrahim, Mohd Adib & Asri Mat Teridi, Mohd & Sepeai, Suhaila & Zaharim, Azami & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2018. "Prospects of life cycle assessment of renewable energy from solar photovoltaic technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 11-28.
    12. Wu, X.D. & Chen, G.Q., 2017. "Energy and water nexus in power generation: The surprisingly high amount of industrial water use induced by solar power infrastructure in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 125-136.
    13. Kaldellis, J.K. & Zafirakis, D. & Kondili, E., 2010. "Energy pay-back period analysis of stand-alone photovoltaic systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1444-1454.
    14. Lloyd, Bob & Forest, Andrew S., 2010. "The transition to renewables: Can PV provide an answer to the peak oil and climate change challenges?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 7378-7394, November.
    15. Koppelaar, R.H.E.M., 2017. "Solar-PV energy payback and net energy: Meta-assessment of study quality, reproducibility, and results harmonization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1241-1255.
    16. Raghava Kommalapati & Akhil Kadiyala & Md. Tarkik Shahriar & Ziaul Huque, 2017. "Review of the Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Different Photovoltaic and Concentrating Solar Power Electricity Generation Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    17. Tripathy, M. & Joshi, H. & Panda, S.K., 2017. "Energy payback time and life-cycle cost analysis of building integrated photovoltaic thermal system influenced by adverse effect of shadow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 376-389.
    18. Pramod Rajput & Maria Malvoni & Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & O. S. Sastry & Arunkumar Jayakumar, 2020. "Operational Performance and Degradation Influenced Life Cycle Environmental–Economic Metrics of mc-Si, a-Si and HIT Photovoltaic Arrays in Hot Semi-arid Climates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Hernandez, Patxi & Kenny, Paul, 2011. "Development of a methodology for life cycle building energy ratings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3779-3788, June.
    20. Quesada, Guillermo & Rousse, Daniel & Dutil, Yvan & Badache, Messaoud & Hallé, Stéphane, 2012. "A comprehensive review of solar facades. Opaque solar facades," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2820-2832.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:87:y:2010:i:12:p:3625-3631. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.