Estimation of carbon credit and direct carbon footprint by solar photovoltaic cells in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Presently, India is almost dependent on coal-based energy, which leads to the generation of a considerable amount of CO2. In the context of climate change, solar energy is accepted as an important alternative source of energy as it is green energy. But the single crystal silicon cells, which are the starting material for solar energy, are produced in exchange of greenhouse gas, the carbon dioxide. Present article highlights an estimation of solar energy production and carbon credit (CC) earning by the photovoltaic cells of mono-crystalline silicon in a definite module, largely used in West Bengal, India. In addition, the quantity of silicon required for the preparation of this module as well as its equivalent amount of carbon dioxide generation during the extraction from quartzite sand by the Czocharlski' technique has been calculated. This analysis is based on the experimental and theoretical performance of the system. The study reveals that, on considering average light intensity (4.5 kWh) for 10h/day, the power output of this solar module is 0.60 kWh/m2/day. CC earned is computed as 0.33 tonnes/MWh/year, under West Bengal climatic condition as per the norms of the Kyoto protocol. For obtaining 11.86 kg of silicon, which is the raw material of soar cell used in this study, the amount of CO2 production is calculated as 8.70 kg/MWh/year. Considering 35 kg CO2/MWh as reference, this amount of CO2 production corresponds to 25% of the total carbon footprint. © The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press.