Photovoltaic power goes green

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) power is a renewable energy commonly presented as a “clean” source. Since this energy power is seen as very profitable, new technologies are evolving very rapidly. It's therefore necessary to evaluate the environmental benefits of PV systems related to technological progress. In this work a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in accordance with the ISO 14040 and 14044 [1] standards is used. The objective of this paper is to perform a parallel analysis of classic standard monocrystalline (mono-Si) module from the Ecoinvent 3.1 data base with a mono-Si panel updated with current data production from the institute CEA-INES. The second step is to estimate the reduction in environmental impact linked to a monolike bifacial panel. The environmental analysis reveals an Energy Pay Back Time (EPBT) less than 1.1 years for bifacial monolike PV modules which is 3 time less than a classic standard mono-Si Ecoinvent 3.1 PV. It results also a sustainable reduction of 38% in CO2 emissions due to the improvements and updating in the manufacturing process of the PV.