An open-source parameterized life cycle model to assess the environmental performance of silicon-based photovoltaic systems

Abstract

Despite being renewable, photovoltaic energy is not burden-free, since energy and materials are necessary to manufacture, maintain, dismantle, and recycle photovoltaic systems. Over its life cycle, the assessed carbon footprint of silicon-based photovoltaic energy published in the literature often ranges from 40 to 110 gCO2eq/kWh. However, most of these estimations rely on life cycle inventory (LCI) data that represent the early-stage performance of the photovoltaic industry. Indeed, collecting LCI data is time-consuming and practitioners often reuse existing outdated data, which becomes problematic as the photovoltaic industry has been rapidly and significantly evolving. This analysis relies on the parametrization of existing LCI data to better account for the progress already accomplished by the photovoltaic industry. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model, called PARASOL_LCA, is thus developed. The results of the analysis highlight that the use of outdated LCI data leads to an overestimation of environmental impacts of photovoltaic energy by a factor of 2 or even more for the best current available technologies. The analysis also shows that PARASOL_LCA, with its numerous parameters, can also serve to assess the environmental performance of prospective photovoltaic technologies and to identify impact reduction levers through sensitivity analysis.