Open AccessReal Energy Payback Time and Carbon Footprint of a GCPVS
Author(s) -
Miguel de Simón-Martín,
M. Díez-Mediavilla,
Cristina Alonso-Tristán
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aims energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.294
H-Index - 9
eISSN - 2333-8334
pISSN - 2333-8326
DOI - 10.3934/energy.2017.1.77
Subject(s) - payback period , photovoltaic system , embodied energy , renewable energy , carbon footprint , automotive engineering , environmental science , energy storage , energy (signal processing) , electricity , reliability engineering , power (physics) , electrical engineering , engineering , production (economics) , greenhouse gas , physics , mathematics , statistics , ecology , quantum mechanics , biology , economics , macroeconomics , thermodynamics
Grid connected PV systems, or GCPVS, produce clean and renewable energy through the\udphotovoltaic e ect in the operation stage of the power plant. However, this is the penultimate stage of\udthe facilities before its dismantlement. Before starting generating electricity with zero CO2 emissions,\uda negative energy balance exists mainly because of the embodied energy costs of the PV components\udmanufacturing, transport and late dismantlement.\udFirst, a review of existing studies about energy life cycle assessment (LCA) and Carbon Footprint\udof PV systems has been carried out in this paper. Then, a new method to evaluate the Real Energy\udPayback Time (REPBT), which includes power looses due to PV panels degradation is proposed and\uddi erences with traditional Energy Payback Time are analysed. Finally, a typical PV grid connected\udplant (100 kW nominal power) located in Northern Spain is studied in these sustainability terms. This\udfacility has been firstly completely modelled, including PV modules, inverters, structures and wiring.\udIt has been also considerated the energy involved in the replacement of those components with shorter\udlifespan. The PV panels degradation has been analysed through the comparison of normalised flash\udtest reports on a significant sample of the installed modules before and 5 years after installation.\udResults show that real PV degradation a ect significantly to the Energy Payback Time of the installation\udincreasing slightly a 4:2% more the EPBT value for the case study. However, along a lifespan\udof 30 years, the GCPVS under analysis will return only 5:6 times the inverted energy on components\udmanufacturing, transport and installation, rather than the expected 9:1 times with the classical estimation