Environmental Profile of the Manufacturing Process of Perovskite Photovoltaics: Harmonization of Life Cycle Assessment Studies

The development of perovskite solar cell technology is steadily increasing. The extremely high photoconversion efficiency drives factor that makes these devices so attractive for photovoltaic energy production. However, the environmental impact of this technology could represent a crucial matter for industrial development, and the sustainability of perovskite solar cell is at the center of the scientific debate. The life cycle assessment studies available in the literature evaluate the environmental profile of this technology, but the outcomes vary consistently depending on the methodological choices and assumptions made by authors. In this work, we performed the harmonization of these life cycle assessment results to understand which are effectively the environmental hotspots of the perovskite solar cell fabrication. The outcomes of this analysis allowed us to outline an environmental ranking of the profiles of the several cell configurations investigated and, most importantly, to identify the material and energy flows that mostly contribute to the technology in terms of environmental impact.

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Life Cycle Assessment of a Lead-free Cesium Titanium (IV) Single and Mixed Halide Perovskite Solar Cell Based 1 m2 PV Module

IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability ◽

10.1109/tdmr.2021.3106340 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

Kunal Chakraborty ◽

Mahua Gupta Choudhury ◽

Samrat Paul

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Lead Free ◽

Pv Module ◽

Halide Perovskite

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An Epitome of Building Floor Systems by Means of LCA Criteria

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12135442 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (13) ◽

pp. 5442 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yovanna Elena Valencia-Barba ◽

José Manuel Gómez-Soberón ◽

María Consolación Gómez-Soberón ◽

Fernando López-Gayarre

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Environmental Aspects ◽

Environmental Profile ◽

Life Cycle Stages ◽

Floor Systems ◽

Floor System ◽

Homogeneous Unit

Studies of the elements that make up the structure of a building have generally focused on topics related to their physical and structural capacities. Although research has been carried out into environmental impact during the life cycle stages, the environmental profile is far from established. This research aims to reduce the gap in the knowledge of this subject, offering useful information to professionals in the construction industry, which will enable them to consider environmental aspects when choosing the best construction systems. The present study applies the methodology of the life cycle assessment (LCA), to analyze and compare four floor construction systems in two different scenarios (“A” with a functional homogeneous unit of 1 m2 and “B” with 1 m² made up of the percentages of the floor system and the special areas of the building). The analysis is performed using the LCA Manager software, along with the Ecoinvent 3.1 database and with a cradle to handover perspective (A1–A5). Comparison was made using two environmental impact methodologies, Eco-indicator 99 and CML 2001. The results highlight the stages A1–A3 as those that generate the greatest environmental impact. Comparing the environmental profiles of the different floor systems, one-way floor systems I and II had the best environmental scores, 30% less than two-way floor system III and 50% less than slab floor system IV.

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Cradle-to-Grave Life Cycle Assessment of Solid-State Perovskite Solar Cells

Volume 4: Bio and Sustainable Manufacturing ◽

10.1115/msec2017-2970 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jingyi Zhang ◽

Xianfeng Gao ◽

Yelin Deng ◽

Yuanchun Zha ◽

Chris Yuan

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Primary Data ◽

Promising Alternative ◽

Whole Life Cycle

With the advantages of low cost and high conversion efficiency, perovskite solar cell attracts enormous attention in recent years for research and development. However, the toxicity potential of lead used in perovskite solar cell manufacturing causes grave concern for its environmental performance. To understand and facilitate the sustainable development of perovskite solar cell, a comprehensive life cycle assessment has been conducted by using attributional life cycle assessment approach from cradle to grave, with manufacturing data from our lab experiments and literature. The results indicate that the major environmental problem is associated with system manufacturing, including gold cathode, organic solvent usage and recycling, and electricity utilization in component manufacturing process. Lead only contributes less than 1% of human toxicity and ecotoxicity potentials in the whole life cycle, which can be explained by the small amount usage of lead in perovskite dye preparation. More importantly, the uncertainties caused by life cycle inventory have been investigated in this study to show the importance of primary data source. In addition, a comparison of perovskite solar cell with conventional solar cells and other dye sensitized solar cells shows that perovskite solar cell could be a promising alternative technology for future clean power generations.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Titania Perovskite Solar Cell Technology for Sustainable Design and Manufacturing

ChemSusChem ◽

10.1002/cssc.201500848 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (22) ◽

pp. 3882-3891 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Jingyi Zhang ◽

Xianfeng Gao ◽

Yelin Deng ◽

Bingbing Li ◽

Chris Yuan

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Sustainable Design ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Cell Technology ◽

Design And Manufacturing ◽

Solar Cell Technology

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Energy performance of perovskite solar cell fabrication in Argentina. A life cycle assessment approach

Solar Energy ◽

10.1016/j.solener.2021.10.071 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 230 ◽

pp. 645-653

Author(s):

Natalia B. Correa Guerrero ◽

Walter O. Herrera Martínez ◽

Barbara Civit ◽

M. Dolores Perez

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Solar Cell Fabrication ◽

Assessment Approach ◽

Cell Fabrication

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Packaging environmental impact on seafood supply chains: A review of life cycle assessment studies

Journal of Industrial Ecology ◽

10.1111/jiec.13189 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cheila Almeida ◽

Philippe Loubet ◽

Tamíris Pacheco da Costa ◽

Paula Quinteiro ◽

Jara Laso ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Supply Chains

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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of an Innovative Compact Hybrid Electrical-Thermal Storage System for Residential Buildings in Mediterranean Climate

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13095322 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 5322

Author(s):

Gabriel Zsembinszki ◽

Noelia Llantoy ◽

Valeria Palomba ◽

Andrea Frazzica ◽

Mattia Dallapiccola ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Storage System ◽

Hot Water ◽

Electrical Consumption ◽

The Impact

The buildings sector is one of the least sustainable activities in the world, accounting for around 40% of the total global energy demand. With the aim to reduce the environmental impact of this sector, the use of renewable energy sources coupled with energy storage systems in buildings has been investigated in recent years. Innovative solutions for cooling, heating, and domestic hot water in buildings can contribute to the buildings’ decarbonization by achieving a reduction of building electrical consumption needed to keep comfortable conditions. However, the environmental impact of a new system is not only related to its electrical consumption from the grid, but also to the environmental load produced in the manufacturing and disposal stages of system components. This study investigates the environmental impact of an innovative system proposed for residential buildings in Mediterranean climate through a life cycle assessment. The results show that, due to the complexity of the system, the manufacturing and disposal stages have a high environmental impact, which is not compensated by the reduction of the impact during the operational stage. A parametric study was also performed to investigate the effect of the design of the storage system on the overall system impact.

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Life cycle assessment of peach transportation considering trade-off between food loss and environmental impact

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment ◽

10.1007/s11367-020-01832-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuma Sasaki ◽

Takahiro Orikasa ◽

Nobutaka Nakamura ◽

Kiyotada Hayashi ◽

Yoshihito Yasaka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Trade Off ◽

Food Loss

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Life Cycle Assessment of the Use of Phase Change Material in an Evacuated Solar Tube Collector

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14144146 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (14) ◽

pp. 4146

Author(s):

Agnieszka Jachura ◽

Robert Sekret

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Phase Change ◽

Phase Change Material ◽

Solar Collector ◽

Hot Water ◽

Production Operation ◽

Management Scenarios ◽

Change Material

This paper presents an environmental impact assessment of the entire cycle of existence of the tube-vacuum solar collector prototype. The innovativeness of the solution involved using a phase change material as a heat-storing material, which was placed inside the collector’s tubes-vacuum. The PCM used in this study was paraffin. The system boundaries contained three phases: production, operation (use phase), and disposal. An ecological life cycle assessment was carried out using the SimaPro software. To compare the environmental impact of heat storage, the amount of heat generated for 15 years, starting from the beginning of a solar installation for preparing domestic hot water for a single-family residential building, was considered the functional unit. Assuming comparable production methods for individual elements of the ETC and waste management scenarios, the reduction in harmful effects on the environment by introducing a PCM that stores heat inside the ETC ranges from 17 to 24%. The performed analyses have also shown that the method itself of manufacturing the materials used for the construction of the solar collector and the choice of the scenario of the disposal of waste during decommissioning the solar collector all play an important role in its environmental assessment. With an increase in the application of the advanced technologies of materials manufacturing and an increase in the amount of waste subjected to recycling, the degree of the solar collector’s environmental impact decreased by 82% compared to its standard manufacture and disposal.

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