Assessing the Environmental Benefits of Extending the Service Lifetime of Solar Photovoltaic Modules.

ABSTRACT: Requiring no fuel for generation and negligible material/energy for operation and maintenance, photovoltaic (PV) systems have environmental impacts mostly due to the production of modules and the commissioning of power plants. Thus, extending the service lifetime of these systems from 30 to 40 years through an enhanced lamination process for module production potentially reduces environmental impacts per unit energy generated. Life cycle assessment is employed to evaluate the environmental impacts under scenarios for resource utilizations for the new lamination process, operation and maintenance requirements in the extended service lifetime, and degradation rates of the devised modules. Extending the service lifetime significantly reduces environmental impacts across categories, with a 21-

SUBMITTER: Pac AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11316246 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature