IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v236y2024ics0960148124014757.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life cycle assessment of polysilicon photovoltaic modules with green recycling based on the ReCiPe method

Author

Listed:
  • Duan, Yuxiu
  • Guo, Feihong
  • Gardy, Jabbar
  • Xu, Guijun
  • Li, Xinjun
  • Jiang, Xiaoxiang

Abstract

Polysilicon photovoltaic (PV) modules are about to enter the end-of-life (EOL) stage on a large scale, and making the exploration of effective recycling methods and comprehensive evaluations their environmental impact through life cycle assessment (LCA) are key issues that need to be urgently tackled. In this study, we innovatively propose a recycling method utilising the green organic solvents 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) and deep eutectic solvent (DES). Additionally, an LCA of 1 m2 polysilicon PV modules - from industrial silicon production to waste recycling - was conducted using the ReCiPe 2016 method. The results indicate that the recycling process of polysilicon has the lowest environmental impact (1.02 Pt), whilst the production process has the highest environmental impact (4.22 Pt), leading to greater uncertainty. Sensitivity analyses showed that the sensitivity of the whole process was higher for electricity consumption and global warming (GW). Comparing the green organic solvent recycling to downcycling and landfill further demonstrates that environmental impact can be significantly reduced by employing this green organic solvent recycling approach, providing an important theoretical and practical pathway to promote the circular economy and sustainable development of the PV industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Duan, Yuxiu & Guo, Feihong & Gardy, Jabbar & Xu, Guijun & Li, Xinjun & Jiang, Xiaoxiang, 2024. "Life cycle assessment of polysilicon photovoltaic modules with green recycling based on the ReCiPe method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:236:y:2024:i:c:s0960148124014757
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121407
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148124014757
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2024.121407?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. Farrell, C.C. & Osman, A.I. & Doherty, R. & Saad, M. & Zhang, X. & Murphy, A. & Harrison, J. & Vennard, A.S.M. & Kumaravel, V. & Al-Muhtaseb, A.H. & Rooney, D.W., 2020. "Technical challenges and opportunities in realising a circular economy for waste photovoltaic modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Haicheng Jia & Ling Liang & Jiqing Xie & Jianyun Zhang, 2022. "Environmental Effects of Technological Improvements in Polysilicon Photovoltaic Systems in China—A Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Guo, Xiaopeng & Dong, Yining & Ren, Dongfang, 2023. "CO2 emission reduction effect of photovoltaic industry through 2060 in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    4. Jasleen Kaur Daljit Singh & Georgina Molinari & Jonathan Bui & Behdad Soltani & Gobinath Pillai Rajarathnam & Ali Abbas, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Disposed and Recycled End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Miller, Ian & Gençer, Emre & Vogelbaum, Hilary S. & Brown, Patrick R. & Torkamani, Sarah & O'Sullivan, Francis M., 2019. "Parametric modeling of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from photovoltaic power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 760-774.
    6. Ansanelli, G. & Fiorentino, G. & Tammaro, M. & Zucaro, A., 2021. "A Life Cycle Assessment of a recovery process from End-of-Life Photovoltaic Panels," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    7. Wang, Lunche & Qiu, Tianzhi & Zhang, Ming & Cao, Qian & Qin, Wenmin & Wang, Shaoqiang & Wang, Lizhe & Chen, Deliang & Wild, Martin, 2024. "Carbon emissions and reduction performance of photovoltaic systems in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    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. Hui Fang Yu & Md. Hasanuzzaman & Nasrudin Abd Rahim & Norridah Amin & Noriah Nor Adzman, 2022. "Global Challenges and Prospects of Photovoltaic Materials Disposal and Recycling: A Comprehensive Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-41, July.
    2. Aşkın, Asmin & Kılkış, Şiir & Akınoğlu, Bülent Gültekin, 2023. "Recycling photovoltaic modules within a circular economy approach and a snapshot for Türkiye," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 583-596.
    3. Wang, Chen & Feng, Kuishuang & Liu, Xi & Wang, Peng & Chen, Wei-Qiang & Li, Jiashuo, 2022. "Looming challenge of photovoltaic waste under China’s solar ambition: A spatial–temporal assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    4. Soonho Kwon & Hae Jong Kim & Samyeon Kim & Sung Joo Hong, 2025. "Sustainability Impact Evaluation of the Recycling of End-of-Life Crystalline Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Panel Waste in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-11, January.
    5. Jingbing Sun & Youmu Xie & Sheng Zhou & Jiali Dan, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: The role of solar energy in achieving net-zero emission and green growth: a global analysis," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Kaishu Luo & Min Li & Xinjie Wang & Yi Fan & Jinhui Zhao, 2024. "Biomass Resources and Emission Reduction Potential of Agricultural and Livestock Residues in Mainland China from 2013 to 2022," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Dimitris Drikakis & Talib Dbouk, 2022. "The Role of Computational Science in Wind and Solar Energy: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Mehrshad Kolahchian Tabrizi & Jacopo Famiglietti & Davide Bonalumi & Stefano Campanari, 2023. "The Carbon Footprint of Hydrogen Produced with State-of-the-Art Photovoltaic Electricity Using Life-Cycle Assessment Methodology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-25, July.
    9. Yuan Li & Paul P. J. Gaffney & Fang Zhao & Xiangbo Xu & Mingbo Zhang, 2024. "Application of Life Cycle Assessment to Policy Environmental Impact Assessment—A Clean Energy Action Plan Case Study in Qinghai Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Jain, Suresh & Sharma, Tanya & Gupta, Anil Kumar, 2022. "End-of-life management of solar PV waste in India: Situation analysis and proposed policy framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    11. Zhao, Ruixi & Pandyaswargo, Andante Hadi & Onoda, Hiroshi, 2024. "A bottom-up approach for greenhouse gas emission estimation at the community level: A case study in Japan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    12. Rong Wang & Sandra Hasanefendic & Elizabeth Von Hauff & Bart Bossink, 2023. "A System Dynamics Approach to Technological Learning Impact for the Cost Estimation of Solar Photovoltaics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-17, December.
    13. Liu, Bingchun & Huo, Xiankai, 2024. "Prediction of Photovoltaic power generation and analyzing of carbon emission reduction capacity in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    14. Zhu, Rui & Lau, Wing Sze & You, Linlin & Yan, Jinyue & Ratti, Carlo & Chen, Min & Wong, Man Sing & Qin, Zheng, 2024. "Multi-sourced data modelling of spatially heterogenous life-cycle carbon mitigation from installed rooftop photovoltaics: A case study in Singapore," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 362(C).
    15. de Oliveira, R.P. & Benvenuti, J. & Espinosa, D.C.R., 2021. "A review of the current progress in recycling technologies for gallium and rare earth elements from light-emitting diodes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Ana-María Diez-Suarez & Marta Martínez-Benavides & Cristina Manteca Donado & Jorge-Juan Blanes-Peiró & Elia Judith Martínez Torres, 2024. "Recycling of Silicon-Based Photovoltaic Modules: Mediterranean Region Insight," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-44, November.
    17. Yu, Hongyang & Wang, Jinchao & Xu, Jiajun, 2023. "Assessing the role of digital economy agglomeration in energy conservation and emission reduction: Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    18. Koo Lee & Sung Bae Cho & Junsin Yi & Hyo Sik Chang, 2022. "Simplified Recovery Process for Resistive Solder Bond (RSB) Hotspots Caused by Poor Soldering of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules Using Resin," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-19, June.
    19. Wu, Jinyang & Niu, Jiayun & Qi, Qinghai & Gueymard, Christian A. & Wang, Lunche & Qin, Wenmin & Zhou, Zhigao, 2024. "Reconstructing 10-km-resolution direct normal irradiance dataset through a hybrid algorithm," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    20. Marco Raugei & Alessio Peluso & Enrica Leccisi & Vasilis Fthenakis, 2021. "Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Implications of High Penetration of Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicles in California," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.

    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:renene:v:236:y:2024:i:c:s0960148124014757. 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/renewable-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.