Life cycle analysis of battery technologies for photovoltaic application in India

Abstract

Growing energy needs and the depleting nature of the nonrenewable sources demand the intervention of renewable sources and storage technologies which are sustainable. It is therefore desirable to perform sustainability analysis in terms of energy efficiency for electrochemical storage systems. This paper is concerned with life cycle energy analysis of batteries used for photovoltaic application in Indian context. The analysis is based on real production and transportation data for India, making it first of its kind to be presented to the technical community. The material production energy contributes about 50–75% of the total energy requirement of the life cycle of the battery. Transportation Energy has a significant contribution for Lithium Ion battery. The significance of manufacturing and recycling energy is specific to the battery technology.