A parameterized model for the estimation of life cycle environmental impacts of crystalline PV systems

As part of global efforts to thwart the climate change challenge, the integration of renewable energy systems, including an increasingly dominant solar sector, would contribute by 36% to the reduction of carbon related emissions. Among current photovoltaic technologies, the focus is on silicon-based technologies dominating the photovoltaic market with a share of 95% of the total production in 2017. Despite nearly-zero emissions during the operation, non-negligible environmental impacts of these systems can be associated with the manufacturing stage, which contributes to 80 – 90 % of the engendered impacts over their lifetime. The electricity mix is a key variable parameter among others affecting the environmental impact in particular manufacturing and recycling phases. In order to tackle this variability, the Life Cycle Assessment method along with comprehensive reviews of latest crystalline-silicon advancements are used in this work to develop a parameterized model. The approach does not only provide a scientific multi-criterion support monitored by more than 25 input variables but also includes updates to current databases for photovoltaic systems, dating from 2005. This parameterization shows the relevance of the model’s modular aspect allowing simulations of various scenarios, ensuring up-to-date LCA data, and serving uncertainty and sensitivity analyses in the future.