Life Cycle Assessment on Hydrogenation Processes on Silicon Solar Modules

Abstract

Hydrogenation processes can offer improvements to the electrical performance of silicon (Si) solar cells from different feedstocks, including low-cost feedstocks, such as upgraded metallurgical silicon (UMG-Si). The development of PV technologies should be complemented by environmental analyses of the production processes. Here we undertake an environmental analysis of Si solar modules including the addition of hydrogenation processes through the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. LCA has not been applied to Si technologies such as hydrogenation, to the best of authors' knowledge. We show that the hydrogenation methods result in better environmental outcomes, considering the assumptions made in this LCA.