IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v74y2014icp314-321.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life cycle environmental impacts from CZTS (copper zinc tin sulfide) and Zn3P2 (zinc phosphide) thin film PV (photovoltaic) cells

Author

Listed:
  • Collier, Jennifer
  • Wu, Susie
  • Apul, Defne

Abstract

While solar PV (photovoltaic) cells are promising for clean energy production, their mass deployment is hindered by production costs, material availability, and toxicity. Two materials that can overcome these challenges and replace today's CdTe (cadmium telluride) and CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) based PV cells are Zn3P2 (zinc phosphide) and CZTS (copper zinc tin sulfide). A cradle to gate life cycle assessment was conducted to understand the environmental impacts from these technologies. The impacts from Zn3P2 and CdTe were similar and lower than the impacts from CZTS and CIGS. While CdTe has the toxic Cd element, the ecotoxicity impact from material acquisition and processing was higher for Zn and P than for CdTe. In CIGS, the ecotoxicity impact came mainly from Ga and would be significantly reduced if CZTS were to replace CIGS in the commercial market. For all four thin films studied, the contribution of raw materials to total impact was much lower than the impact coming from electricity consumption during the manufacturing stage. Therefore, to reduce environmental impact, future PV technology development should focus more on the process improvement. The manufacturing stages that contributed most to the impact were the absorber layer for CIGS and CZTS and the substrate cleaning for CdTe and Zn3P2.

Suggested Citation

  • Collier, Jennifer & Wu, Susie & Apul, Defne, 2014. "Life cycle environmental impacts from CZTS (copper zinc tin sulfide) and Zn3P2 (zinc phosphide) thin film PV (photovoltaic) cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 314-321.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:74:y:2014:i:c:p:314-321
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.06.076
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544214007750
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2014.06.076?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Xingzhong Yan & Minlin Jiang, 2013. "Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Film Solar Cells: Present Status and Future Prospects," Chapters, in: Arturo Morales-Acevedo (ed.), Solar Cells - Research and Application Perspectives, IntechOpen.
    2. Zhong, Z.W. & Song, B. & Loh, P.E., 2011. "LCAs of a polycrystalline photovoltaic module and a wind turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2227-2237.
    3. Alharbi, Fahhad & Bass, John D. & Salhi, Abdelmajid & Alyamani, Ahmed & Kim, Ho-Cheol & Miller, Robert D., 2011. "Abundant non-toxic materials for thin film solar cells: Alternative to conventional materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 2753-2758.
    4. Stoppato, A., 2008. "Life cycle assessment of photovoltaic electricity generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 224-232.
    5. 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.
    6. Desideri, Umberto & Proietti, Stefania & Zepparelli, Francesco & Sdringola, Paolo & Bini, Silvia, 2012. "Life Cycle Assessment of a ground-mounted 1778kWp photovoltaic plant and comparison with traditional energy production systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 930-943.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ilke Celik & Ramez Hosseinian Ahangharnejhad & Zhaoning Song & Michael Heben & Defne Apul, 2020. "Emerging Photovoltaic (PV) Materials for a Low Carbon Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-10, August.
    2. Islam, Md. Monirul & Sohag, Kazi & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Mariev, Oleg & Samargandi, Nahla, 2022. "Minerals import demands and clean energy transitions: A disaggregated analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Lunardi, Marina M. & Moore, Stephen & Alvarez-Gaitan, J.P. & Yan, Chang & Hao, Xiaojing & Corkish, Richard, 2018. "A comparative life cycle assessment of chalcogenide/Si tandem solar modules," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 700-709.
    4. Violeta Motuzienė & Kęstutis Čiuprinskas & Artur Rogoža & Vilūnė Lapinskienė, 2022. "A Review of the Life Cycle Analysis Results for Different Energy Conversion Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-26, November.
    5. Atif Ali & Theodore W. Koch & Timothy A. Volk & Robert W. Malmsheimer & Mark H. Eisenbies & Danielle Kloster & Tristan R. Brown & Nehan Naim & Obste Therasme, 2022. "The Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Production in New York State from Distributed Solar Photovoltaic Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Choi, Chul Hun & Kim, Sang-Phil & Lee, Seokcheon & Zhao, Fu, 2020. "Game theoretic production decisions of by-product materials critical for clean energy technologies - Indium as a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    7. Resalati, Shahaboddin & Okoroafor, Tobechi & Maalouf, Amani & Saucedo, Edgardo & Placidi, Marcel, 2022. "Life cycle assessment of different chalcogenide thin-film solar cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    8. Campos-Guzmán, Verónica & García-Cáscales, M. Socorro & Espinosa, Nieves & Urbina, Antonio, 2019. "Life Cycle Analysis with Multi-Criteria Decision Making: A review of approaches for the sustainability evaluation of renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 343-366.
    9. Vincenzo Muteri & Maurizio Cellura & Domenico Curto & Vincenzo Franzitta & Sonia Longo & Marina Mistretta & Maria Laura Parisi, 2020. "Review on Life Cycle Assessment of Solar Photovoltaic Panels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-38, January.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Bany Mousa, Osama & Kara, Sami & Taylor, Robert A., 2019. "Comparative energy and greenhouse gas assessment of industrial rooftop-integrated PV and solar thermal collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 113-123.
    5. 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.
    6. Gerbinet, Saïcha & Belboom, Sandra & Léonard, Angélique, 2014. "Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of photovoltaic panels: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 747-753.
    7. Bhandari, Khagendra P. & Collier, Jennifer M. & Ellingson, Randy J. & Apul, Defne S., 2015. "Energy payback time (EPBT) and energy return on energy invested (EROI) of solar photovoltaic systems: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 133-141.
    8. Yu, Zhiqiang & Ma, Wenhui & Xie, Keqiang & Lv, Guoqiang & Chen, Zhengjie & Wu, Jijun & Yu, Jie, 2017. "Life cycle assessment of grid-connected power generation from metallurgical route multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic system in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 68-81.
    9. Wong, J.H. & Royapoor, M. & Chan, C.W., 2016. "Review of life cycle analyses and embodied energy requirements of single-crystalline and multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 608-618.
    10. Kabakian, V. & McManus, M.C. & Harajli, H., 2015. "Attributional life cycle assessment of mounted 1.8kWp monocrystalline photovoltaic system with batteries and comparison with fossil energy production system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 428-437.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Gabriel Constantino & Marcos Freitas & Neilton Fidelis & Marcio Giannini Pereira, 2018. "Adoption of Photovoltaic Systems Along a Sure Path: A Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) Study Applied to the Analysis of GHG Emission Impacts," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-28, October.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. Desideri, U. & Zepparelli, F. & Morettini, V. & Garroni, E., 2013. "Comparative analysis of concentrating solar power and photovoltaic technologies: Technical and environmental evaluations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 765-784.
    19. Mansouri, Noura Y. & Crookes, Roy J. & Korakianitis, Theodosios, 2013. "A projection of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the electricity sector for Saudi Arabia: The case for carbon capture and storage and solar photovoltaics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 681-695.
    20. Goe, Michele & Gaustad, Gabrielle, 2014. "Strengthening the case for recycling photovoltaics: An energy payback analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 41-48.

    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:energy:v:74:y:2014:i:c:p:314-321. 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.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    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.