IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i1p252-d305051.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Review on Life Cycle Assessment of Solar Photovoltaic Panels

Author

Listed:
  • Vincenzo Muteri

    (Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Maurizio Cellura

    (Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Domenico Curto

    (Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Vincenzo Franzitta

    (Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Sonia Longo

    (Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze Ed.9, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Marina Mistretta

    (Department of Heritage, Architecture, Urbanism (PAU)-University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria, Salita Melissari, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy)

  • Maria Laura Parisi

    (R2ES Lab, Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy)

Abstract

The photovoltaic (PV) sector has undergone both major expansion and evolution over the last decades, and currently, the technologies already marketed or still in the laboratory/research phase are numerous and very different. Likewise, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts of these devices, life cycle assessment (LCA) studies related to these systems are always increasing. The objective of this paper is to summarize and update the current literature of LCA applied to different types of grid-connected PV, as well as to critically analyze the results related to energy and environmental impacts generated during the life cycle of PV technologies, from 1st generation (traditional silicon based) up to the third generation (innovative non-silicon based). Most of the results regarded energy indices like energy payback time, cumulative energy demand, and primary energy demand, while environmental indices were variable based on different scopes and impact assessment methods. Moreover, the review work allowed to highlight and compare key parameters (PV type and system, geographical location, efficiency), methodological insights (functional unit, system boundaries, etc.), and energy/environmental hotspots of 39 LCA studies relating to different PV systems, in order to underline the importance of these aspects, and to provide information and a basis of comparison for future analyses.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:252-:d:305051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/1/252/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/1/252/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Annick Anctil & Vasilis Fthenakis, 2012. "Life Cycle Assessment of Organic Photovoltaics," Chapters, in: Vasilis Fthenakis (ed.), Third Generation Photovoltaics, IntechOpen.
    2. Cellura, Maurizio & Longo, Sonia & Mistretta, Marina, 2011. "Sensitivity analysis to quantify uncertainty in Life Cycle Assessment: The case study of an Italian tile," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4697-4705.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Parisi, Maria Laura & Maranghi, Simone & Basosi, Riccardo, 2014. "The evolution of the dye sensitized solar cells from Grätzel prototype to up-scaled solar applications: A life cycle assessment approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 124-138.
    7. Azzopardi, B. & Mutale, J., 2010. "Life cycle analysis for future photovoltaic systems using hybrid solar cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 1130-1134, April.
    8. 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.
    9. Parida, Bhubaneswari & Iniyan, S. & Goic, Ranko, 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1625-1636, April.
    10. Hou, Guofu & Sun, Honghang & Jiang, Ziying & Pan, Ziqiang & Wang, Yibo & Zhang, Xiaodan & Zhao, Ying & Yao, Qiang, 2016. "Life cycle assessment of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation from crystalline silicon solar modules in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 882-890.
    11. Akinyele, D.O. & Rayudu, R.K. & Nair, N.K.C., 2017. "Life cycle impact assessment of photovoltaic power generation from crystalline silicon-based solar modules in Nigeria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 537-549.
    12. 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.
    13. Simone Maranghi & Maria Laura Parisi & Riccardo Basosi & Adalgisa Sinicropi, 2019. "Environmental Profile of the Manufacturing Process of Perovskite Photovoltaics: Harmonization of Life Cycle Assessment Studies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, September.
    14. El Chaar, L. & lamont, L.A. & El Zein, N., 2011. "Review of photovoltaic technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 2165-2175, 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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Mérida García, A. & Gallagher, J. & McNabola, A. & Camacho Poyato, E. & Montesinos Barrios, P. & Rodríguez Díaz, J.A., 2019. "Comparing the environmental and economic impacts of on- or off-grid solar photovoltaics with traditional energy sources for rural irrigation systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 895-904.
    5. Thopil, George Alex & Sachse, Christiaan Eddie & Lalk, Jörg & Thopil, Miriam Sara, 2020. "Techno-economic performance comparison of crystalline and thin film PV panels under varying meteorological conditions: A high solar resource southern hemisphere case," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    6. 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).
    7. 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.
    8. Sampaio, Priscila Gonçalves Vasconcelos & González, Mario Orestes Aguirre, 2017. "Photovoltaic solar energy: Conceptual framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 590-601.
    9. Yadav, Deepak & Banerjee, Rangan, 2018. "A comparative life cycle energy and carbon emission analysis of the solar carbothermal and hydrometallurgy routes for zinc production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 577-602.
    10. 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.
    11. Riccardo Basosi & Roberto Bonciani & Dario Frosali & Giampaolo Manfrida & Maria Laura Parisi & Franco Sansone, 2020. "Life Cycle Analysis of a Geothermal Power Plant: Comparison of the Environmental Performance with Other Renewable Energy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-29, April.
    12. 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).
    13. Menoufi, Karim & Chemisana, Daniel & Rosell, Joan I., 2013. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Building Integrated Concentrated Photovoltaic scheme," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 505-514.
    14. Muath Bani Salim & Dervis Emre Demirocak & Nael Barakat, 2018. "A Fuzzy Based Model for Standardized Sustainability Assessment of Photovoltaic Cells," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    15. Su, Xing & Xu, Zehan & Tian, Shaochen & Chen, Chaoyang & Huang, Yixiang & Geng, Yining & Chen, Junfeng, 2023. "Life cycle assessment of three typical solar energy utilization systems in different regions of China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    16. Giuseppe Todde & Lelia Murgia & Isaac Carrelo & Rita Hogan & Antonio Pazzona & Luigi Ledda & Luis Narvarte, 2018. "Embodied Energy and Environmental Impact of Large-Power Stand-Alone Photovoltaic Irrigation Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.
    17. Parisi, Maria Laura & Maranghi, Simone & Basosi, Riccardo, 2014. "The evolution of the dye sensitized solar cells from Grätzel prototype to up-scaled solar applications: A life cycle assessment approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 124-138.
    18. Lamnatou, Chr. & Chemisana, D., 2017. "Concentrating solar systems: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and environmental issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 916-932.
    19. 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.
    20. Parisi, M.L. & Maranghi, S. & Vesce, L. & Sinicropi, A. & Di Carlo, A. & Basosi, R., 2020. "Prospective life cycle assessment of third-generation photovoltaics at the pre-industrial scale: A long-term scenario approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

    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:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:252-:d:305051. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.