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California has set two ambitious targets aimed at achieving a high level of decarbonization in the coming decades, namely (i) to generate 60% and 100% of its electricity using renewable energy (RE) technologies, respectively, by 2030 and by 2045, and (ii) introducing at least 5 million zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2030, as a first step towards all new vehicles being ZEVs by 2035. In addition, in California, photovoltaics (PVs) coupled with lithium-ion battery (LIB) storage and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are, respectively, the most promising candidates for new RE installations and new ZEVs, respectively. However, concerns have been voiced about how meeting both targets at the same time could potentially negatively affect the electricity grid’s stability, and hence also its overall energy and carbon performance. This paper addresses those concerns by presenting a thorough life-cycle carbon emission and energy analysis based on an original grid balancing model that uses a combination of historical hourly dispatch and demand data and future projections of hourly demand for BEV charging. Five different scenarios are assessed, and the results unequivocally indicate that a future 80% RE grid mix in California is not only able to cope with the increased demand caused by BEVs, but it can do so with low carbon emissions (<110 g CO2-eq/kWh) and satisfactory net energy returns (EROIPE-eq = 12–16).
Marco Raugei; Alessio Peluso; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Implications of High Penetration of Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicles in California. Energies 2021, 14, 5165 .
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Alessio Peluso, Enrica Leccisi, Vasilis Fthenakis. Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Implications of High Penetration of Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicles in California. Energies. 2021; 14 (16):5165.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Alessio Peluso; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. 2021. "Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Implications of High Penetration of Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicles in California." Energies 14, no. 16: 5165.
Seawater represents a potential resource to ensure sustainable availability of water for population and irrigation purposes, especially in some areas of the world. Desalination processes allow the production of fresh water, but they generate also brine as waste product. Sustainable brine management should be identified to ensure proper disposal and potentially resource recovery. This experimental study showed that emerging technologies such as Microbial Desalination Cells (MDCs) may provide a valuable contribution to the sustainability of the seawater desalination sector. In this paper, we report results on lab-scale desalination brine treatments applying MDCs, which allow energy savings, resource recovery, environmental impact minimization, and reduction of the organic load in municipal wastewater. Our results showed that MDCs’ treatment allows the removal of approximately 33 g of salts (62% of the total)—including chlorides, bromides, and sulphates—from 20 mL of brine within 96 h. The MDCs, according to the source of energy and the presence of mature biofilm at the anode, spent 7.2 J, 7.9 J, and 9.6 J in the desalination process, with the higher amount of energy required by the abiotic system and the lesser by the MDCs fed with just wastewater. Our approach also showed environmental and energy reductions because of potential metal recovery instead of returning them into marine environment. We quantified the avoided life cycle of human and marine eco-toxicity impacts as well as the reduction of cumulative energy demand of recovered metals. The main benefit in terms of avoided toxicity would arise from the mercury and copper recovery, while potential economic advantages would derive from the recovered cobalt that represents a strategic resource for many products such as battery storage systems.
Rosa Nastro; Enrica Leccisi; Maria Toscanesi; Gengyuan Liu; Marco Trifuoggi; Sergio Ulgiati. Exploring Avoided Environmental Impacts as Well as Energy and Resource Recovery from Microbial Desalination Cell Treatment of Brine. Energies 2021, 14, 4453 .
AMA StyleRosa Nastro, Enrica Leccisi, Maria Toscanesi, Gengyuan Liu, Marco Trifuoggi, Sergio Ulgiati. Exploring Avoided Environmental Impacts as Well as Energy and Resource Recovery from Microbial Desalination Cell Treatment of Brine. Energies. 2021; 14 (15):4453.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRosa Nastro; Enrica Leccisi; Maria Toscanesi; Gengyuan Liu; Marco Trifuoggi; Sergio Ulgiati. 2021. "Exploring Avoided Environmental Impacts as Well as Energy and Resource Recovery from Microbial Desalination Cell Treatment of Brine." Energies 14, no. 15: 4453.
Perovskite photovoltaics reached record efficiencies in the laboratory, and if sustainably commercialized, they would accelerate a green energy transition. This article presents the development of life cycle inventory material and energy databases of four most promising single-junction and three tandem scalable perovskite systems with assumptions regarding scalable production validated by industry experts. We conducted comprehensive “ex ante” life cycle analysis (LCA) and net energy analysis, analyzing their cumulative energy demand, global warming potential profiles, energy payback times, and energy return on investment (EROI). LCA contribution analysis elucidates the most impactful material and process choices. It shows that solution-based perovskite manufacturing would have lower environmental impact than vapor-based methods, and that roll-to-roll (RtR) printing offers the lowest impact. Among material choices, MoOx/Al has lower impact than Ag, and fluorine-tin-oxide lower than indium-tin-oxide. Furthermore, we compare perovskites with commercial crystalline-silicon and thin-film PV, accounting for the most recent developments in crystalline-Si wafer production and differences in life expectancies and efficiencies. It is shown that perovskite systems produced with RtR manufacturing could reach in only 12 years of life, the same EROI as that of single-crystalline-Si PV lasting 30 years. This work lays a foundation for sustainability investigations of perovskite large-scale deployment.
Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. Life cycle energy demand and carbon emissions of scalable single‐junction and tandem perovskite PV. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleEnrica Leccisi, Vasilis Fthenakis. Life cycle energy demand and carbon emissions of scalable single‐junction and tandem perovskite PV. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEnrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. 2021. "Life cycle energy demand and carbon emissions of scalable single‐junction and tandem perovskite PV." Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications , no. : 1.
This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the current life-cycle sustainability status of crystalline-based photovoltaic (PV) systems. Specifically, single-crystalline Si (sc-Si) and multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) PV systems are analyzed in terms of their environmental and energy performance, providing breakdown contributions and comparisons with estimates published 6 years ago. Results clearly show the significant environmental improvement in the sc-Si PV system production—mainly at the wafer stage—for which the impacts have been reduced by up to 50% in terms of carbon emissions and 42% in terms of acid gas emissions. The life-cycle cumulative energy demand is estimated to be approximately 48% lower (for sc-Si) and 24% lower (for mc-Si) than previously reported estimates. Energy payback times of currently installed systems range from 1.3 (for c-Si PV) and 1.5 years (mc-Si PV) for fixed-tilt ground-mounted installations at low irradiation (1000 kWh/m2/year), to 0.6 years at high irradiation (2300 kWh/m2/year). The resulting energy returns on investment—expressed in terms of primary energy—range from 22 (at low irradiation) to 52 (at high irradiation) for sc-Si PV systems and from 21 to 47 for mc-Si PV systems. Furthermore, we examine the effects of cleaner electricity grids and grid efficiency improvements on these environmental and energy indicators.
Vasilis Fthenakis; Enrica Leccisi. Updated sustainability status of crystalline silicon‐based photovoltaic systems: Life‐cycle energy and environmental impact reduction trends. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 2021, 1 .
AMA StyleVasilis Fthenakis, Enrica Leccisi. Updated sustainability status of crystalline silicon‐based photovoltaic systems: Life‐cycle energy and environmental impact reduction trends. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. 2021; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleVasilis Fthenakis; Enrica Leccisi. 2021. "Updated sustainability status of crystalline silicon‐based photovoltaic systems: Life‐cycle energy and environmental impact reduction trends." Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications , no. : 1.
This paper presents a detailed life-cycle assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions, cumulative demand for total and non-renewable primary energy, and energy return on investment (EROI) for the domestic electricity grid mix in the U.S. state of California, using hourly historical data for 2018, and future projections of increased solar photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity with lithium-ion battery energy storage, so as to achieve 80% net renewable electricity generation in 2030, while ensuring the hourly matching of the supply and demand profiles at all times. Specifically—in line with California’s plans that aim to increase the renewable energy share into the electric grid—in this study, PV installed capacity is assumed to reach 43.7 GW in 2030, resulting of 52% of the 2030 domestic electricity generation. In the modelled 2030 scenario, single-cycle gas turbines and nuclear plants are completely phased out, while combined-cycle gas turbine output is reduced by 30% compared to 2018. Results indicate that 25% of renewable electricity ends up being routed into storage, while 2.8% is curtailed. Results also show that such energy transition strategy would be effective at curbing California’s domestic electricity grid mix carbon emissions by 50%, and reducing demand for non-renewable primary energy by 66%, while also achieving a 10% increase in overall EROI (in terms of electricity output per unit of investment).
Marco Raugei; Alessio Peluso; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Return on Investment for 80% Domestic Renewable Electricity with Battery Storage in California (U.S.A.). Energies 2020, 13, 3934 .
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Alessio Peluso, Enrica Leccisi, Vasilis Fthenakis. Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Return on Investment for 80% Domestic Renewable Electricity with Battery Storage in California (U.S.A.). Energies. 2020; 13 (15):3934.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Alessio Peluso; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. 2020. "Life-Cycle Carbon Emissions and Energy Return on Investment for 80% Domestic Renewable Electricity with Battery Storage in California (U.S.A.)." Energies 13, no. 15: 3934.
For new technologies, such as perovskite solar cells (PSC), life cycle analysis (LCA) offers a fundamental framework for examining potential environmental, energy and health impacts and mitigation options before large-scale commercialization and for guiding improvements in development and production that further reduce their environmental footprint. However, credible LCA studies require actual process-based material, energy and emissions data, which may not exist before the technologies are commercially produced. Thus, the perovskite LCA literature is based on linear extrapolations of laboratory data. In this paper we critically reviewed the PSC LCA literature, explain the reasoning for a wide divergence of results, and determined which data apply to scalable industrial production, materials and processes. Our investigation probed into the formulation of each layer of a PSC device, and its potential for industrial scale fabrication. We found that electricity use is the main contributor to reported LCA results, explaining the large difference, ranging from 7.78 kWh to 1,460 kWh/m2, among various studies. Subsequently, we identified and discuss methodological errors in some of these estimates. In terms of life-cycle toxicity most of the reviewed LCA studies do not attribute any major overall toxicity impact to the presence of lead in the PSC devices. We also reviewed and critiqued studies describing "worst-case" scenarios of accidental release of lead into the environment, and, in spite of statements in those studies, we found them to be inconclusive. Finally, we discussed end-of-life (EoL) management options for resource recovery and for minimizing environmental impacts.
Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. Life-cycle environmental impacts of single-junction and tandem perovskite PVs: a critical review and future perspectives. Progress in Energy 2020, 2, 032002 .
AMA StyleEnrica Leccisi, Vasilis Fthenakis. Life-cycle environmental impacts of single-junction and tandem perovskite PVs: a critical review and future perspectives. Progress in Energy. 2020; 2 (3):032002.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEnrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis. 2020. "Life-cycle environmental impacts of single-junction and tandem perovskite PVs: a critical review and future perspectives." Progress in Energy 2, no. 3: 032002.
Renewable electricity generation is intermittent and its large‐scale deployment will require some degree of energy storage. Although best assessed at grid level, the incremental energy and environmental impacts of adding the required energy storage capacity may also be calculated specifically for each individual technology. This paper deals with the latter issue for the case of photovoltaics (PV) complemented by lithium‐ion battery (LIB) storage. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 100MW ground‐mounted PV system with 60MW of (lithium‐manganese oxide) LIB, under a range of irradiation and storage scenarios, show that energy pay‐back time and life‐cycle global warming potential increase by 7% to 30% (depending on storage duration scenarios), with respect to those of PV without storage. Thus the benefits of PV when displacing conventional thermal electricity (in terms of carbon emissions and energy renewability) are only marginally affected by the addition of energy storage. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Marco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis M. Fthenakis. What Are the Energy and Environmental Impacts of Adding Battery Storage to Photovoltaics? A Generalized Life Cycle Assessment. Energy Technology 2020, 8, 1 .
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Enrica Leccisi, Vasilis M. Fthenakis. What Are the Energy and Environmental Impacts of Adding Battery Storage to Photovoltaics? A Generalized Life Cycle Assessment. Energy Technology. 2020; 8 (11):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis M. Fthenakis. 2020. "What Are the Energy and Environmental Impacts of Adding Battery Storage to Photovoltaics? A Generalized Life Cycle Assessment." Energy Technology 8, no. 11: 1.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity has the potential to be a major energy solution, sustainably suitable for urban areas of the future. However, although PV technology has been projected as one of the most promising candidates to replace conventional fossil based power plants, the potential disadvantages of the PV panels end-of-life (EoL) have not been thoroughly evaluated. The current challenge concerning PV technology resides in making it more efficient and competitive in comparison with traditional fossil powered plants, without neglecting the appraisal of EoL impacts. Indeed, considering the fast growth of the photovoltaic market, started 30 years ago, the amount of PV waste to be handled and disposed of is expected to grow drastically. Therefore, there is a real need to develop effective and sustainable processes to address the needed recycle of the growing number of decommissioned PV panels. Many laboratory-scale or pilot industrial processes have been developed globally during the years by private companies and public research institutes to demonstrate the real potential offered by the recycling of PV panels. One of the tested up lab-scale recycling processes – for the crystalline silicon technology – is the thermal treatment, aiming at separating PV cells from the glass, through the removal of the EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) layer. Of course, this treatment may entail that some hazardous components, such as Cd, Pb, and Cr, are released to the environment, therefore calling for very accurate handling. To this aim, the sustainability of a recovery process for EoL crystalline silicon PV panels was investigated by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) indicators. The overall goal of this paper was to compare two different EoL scenarios, by evaluating the environmental advantages of replacing virgin materials with recovered materials with a special focus on the steps and/or components that can be further improved. The results demonstrate that the recovery process has a positive effect in all the analyzed impact categories, in particular in freshwater eutrophication, human toxicity, terrestrial acidification and fossil depletion indicators. The main environmental benefits arise from the recovery of aluminum and silicon. In particular, the recovered silicon from PV waste panels would decrease the need for raw silicon extraction and refining in so lowering the manufacturing costs, and end-of-life management of PV panels. Moreover, the amount of the recovered materials (silicon, aluminum and copper, among others) suggests a potential benefit also under an economic point of view, based on present market prices.
Fabiana Corcelli; Maddalena Ripa; Enrica Leccisi; Viviana Cigolotti; Valeria Fiandra; Giorgio Graditi; Lucio Sannino; Marco Tammaro; Sergio Ulgiati. Sustainable urban electricity supply chain – Indicators of material recovery and energy savings from crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels end-of-life. Ecological Indicators 2018, 94, 37 -51.
AMA StyleFabiana Corcelli, Maddalena Ripa, Enrica Leccisi, Viviana Cigolotti, Valeria Fiandra, Giorgio Graditi, Lucio Sannino, Marco Tammaro, Sergio Ulgiati. Sustainable urban electricity supply chain – Indicators of material recovery and energy savings from crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels end-of-life. Ecological Indicators. 2018; 94 ():37-51.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFabiana Corcelli; Maddalena Ripa; Enrica Leccisi; Viviana Cigolotti; Valeria Fiandra; Giorgio Graditi; Lucio Sannino; Marco Tammaro; Sergio Ulgiati. 2018. "Sustainable urban electricity supply chain – Indicators of material recovery and energy savings from crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels end-of-life." Ecological Indicators 94, no. : 37-51.
Lead halide perovskites (LHP) are an emerging class of photovoltaic (PV) materials that have drawn intense interest due to their power conversion efficiencies above 23% and their potential for low-cost fabrication. However, the toxicity of lead causes concern about its use in LHP-PV at large scales. Here, we quantified lead utilization and toxicity potential of LHP-PV in potential commercial production. Lead intensity in LHP-PV life cycles can be 4 times lower and potential toxic emissions can be 20 times lower than those in representative U.S. electricity mixes, assuming that PV operational lifetimes reach 20 years. We introduce the metric “toxicity potential payback time”, accounting for toxic emissions in the life cycle of energy cycles, and showed that it is < 2 years for perovskite PVs produced by and displacing the same grid mix. The toxicity potential associated with the energy of manufacturing a PV system dominates that associated with release of embodied lead. Therefore, the use of lead should not preclude commercialization of LHP-PVs. Instead, effort should focus on development of low-energy manufacturing processes and long service lifetimes. Additional detailed investigations are needed to quantify the full life cycle of commercial production of perovskites and to minimize potential emissions.
Pieter Billen; Enrica Leccisi; Subham Dastidar; Siming Li; Liliana Lobaton; Sabrina Spatari; Aaron T. Fafarman; Vasilis M. Fthenakis; Jason B. Baxter. Comparative evaluation of lead emissions and toxicity potential in the life cycle of lead halide perovskite photovoltaics. Energy 2018, 166, 1089 -1096.
AMA StylePieter Billen, Enrica Leccisi, Subham Dastidar, Siming Li, Liliana Lobaton, Sabrina Spatari, Aaron T. Fafarman, Vasilis M. Fthenakis, Jason B. Baxter. Comparative evaluation of lead emissions and toxicity potential in the life cycle of lead halide perovskite photovoltaics. Energy. 2018; 166 ():1089-1096.
Chicago/Turabian StylePieter Billen; Enrica Leccisi; Subham Dastidar; Siming Li; Liliana Lobaton; Sabrina Spatari; Aaron T. Fafarman; Vasilis M. Fthenakis; Jason B. Baxter. 2018. "Comparative evaluation of lead emissions and toxicity potential in the life cycle of lead halide perovskite photovoltaics." Energy 166, no. : 1089-1096.
Chile is one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America, with a mainly fossil fuelled electricity demand and a population projected to surpass 20 million by 2035. Chile is undergoing a transition to renewable energies due to ambitious national targets, namely to generate 60% of its electricity from local renewable energy by 2035, and to achieve a 45%renewable energy share for all new electric installed capacity. In this work, we present a comprehensive energy analysis of the electricity generation technologies currently deployed in Chile. Then, we analyse potential future scenarios, considering a large deployment of RE, mainly PV and wind, to replace coal-fired electricity. The life cycle assessment (LCA) and net energy analysis (NEA) methods are applied in parallel to provide complementary indicators, respectively nr-CED and EROI, and identify weak spots and future opportunities. Special focus is given to the effect on EROI of transporting fossil fuels to Chile. Results show that a large deployment of PV and wind can significantly improve the overall net energy performance of electricity generation in Chile, while leading to an electricity supply mix that is >60% less reliant on non-renewable energy.
Marco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis; Rodrigo Escobar Moragas; Yeliz Simsek. Net energy analysis and life cycle energy assessment of electricity supply in Chile: Present status and future scenarios. Energy 2018, 162, 659 -668.
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Enrica Leccisi, Vasilis Fthenakis, Rodrigo Escobar Moragas, Yeliz Simsek. Net energy analysis and life cycle energy assessment of electricity supply in Chile: Present status and future scenarios. Energy. 2018; 162 ():659-668.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi; Vasilis Fthenakis; Rodrigo Escobar Moragas; Yeliz Simsek. 2018. "Net energy analysis and life cycle energy assessment of electricity supply in Chile: Present status and future scenarios." Energy 162, no. : 659-668.
The increasing contribution of renewable energies to electricity grids in order to address impending environmental challenges implies a reduction in non-renewable resource use and an alignment with a global transition toward a low-carbon electric sector. In this paper, four future UK grid mix scenarios with increased photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity are assessed and compared to a benchmark “Low PV” scenario, from 2016 to 2035. The complexity of the issue requires a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate the availability of net energy, environmental aspects and technical performance. Hence, the comparison between scenarios includes short-term and long-term energy metrics as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) and technical metrics. Also, the paper considers the viewpoints offered by both an “integrative” and a “dynamic” approach to net energy analysis. Results for all five analysed scenarios indicate that increased PV deployment will not be detrimental to the UK grid performance from the points of view of a wide range of system-level technical (% renewable energy curtailment to ensure grid stability), energy (energy return on investment and non-renewable cumulative energy demand) and environmental (greenhouse gas emissions) metrics.
Marco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi; Brian Azzopardi; Christopher Jones; Paul Gilbert; Lingxi Zhang; Yutian Zhou; Sarah Mander; Pierluigi Mancarella. A multi-disciplinary analysis of UK grid mix scenarios with large-scale PV deployment. Energy Policy 2018, 114, 51 -62.
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Enrica Leccisi, Brian Azzopardi, Christopher Jones, Paul Gilbert, Lingxi Zhang, Yutian Zhou, Sarah Mander, Pierluigi Mancarella. A multi-disciplinary analysis of UK grid mix scenarios with large-scale PV deployment. Energy Policy. 2018; 114 ():51-62.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi; Brian Azzopardi; Christopher Jones; Paul Gilbert; Lingxi Zhang; Yutian Zhou; Sarah Mander; Pierluigi Mancarella. 2018. "A multi-disciplinary analysis of UK grid mix scenarios with large-scale PV deployment." Energy Policy 114, no. : 51-62.
Marco Raugei; Sgouris Sgouridis; David Murphy; Vasilis Fthenakis; Rolf Frischknecht; Christian Breyer; Ugo Bardi; Charles Barnhart; Alastair Buckley; Michael Carbajales-Dale; Dénes Csala; Mariska de Wild-Scholten; Garvin Heath; Arnulf Jäger-Waldau; Christopher Jones; Arthur Keller; Enrica Leccisi; Pierluigi Mancarella; Nicola Pearsall; Adam Siegel; Wim Sinke; Philippe Stolz. Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) for photovoltaic solar systems in regions of moderate insolation: A comprehensive response. Energy Policy 2017, 102, 377 -384.
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Sgouris Sgouridis, David Murphy, Vasilis Fthenakis, Rolf Frischknecht, Christian Breyer, Ugo Bardi, Charles Barnhart, Alastair Buckley, Michael Carbajales-Dale, Dénes Csala, Mariska de Wild-Scholten, Garvin Heath, Arnulf Jäger-Waldau, Christopher Jones, Arthur Keller, Enrica Leccisi, Pierluigi Mancarella, Nicola Pearsall, Adam Siegel, Wim Sinke, Philippe Stolz. Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) for photovoltaic solar systems in regions of moderate insolation: A comprehensive response. Energy Policy. 2017; 102 ():377-384.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Sgouris Sgouridis; David Murphy; Vasilis Fthenakis; Rolf Frischknecht; Christian Breyer; Ugo Bardi; Charles Barnhart; Alastair Buckley; Michael Carbajales-Dale; Dénes Csala; Mariska de Wild-Scholten; Garvin Heath; Arnulf Jäger-Waldau; Christopher Jones; Arthur Keller; Enrica Leccisi; Pierluigi Mancarella; Nicola Pearsall; Adam Siegel; Wim Sinke; Philippe Stolz. 2017. "Energy Return on Energy Invested (ERoEI) for photovoltaic solar systems in regions of moderate insolation: A comprehensive response." Energy Policy 102, no. : 377-384.
Christopher Jones; Paul Gilbert; Marco Raugei; Sarah Mander; Enrica Leccisi. An approach to prospective consequential life cycle assessment and net energy analysis of distributed electricity generation. Energy Policy 2017, 100, 350 -358.
AMA StyleChristopher Jones, Paul Gilbert, Marco Raugei, Sarah Mander, Enrica Leccisi. An approach to prospective consequential life cycle assessment and net energy analysis of distributed electricity generation. Energy Policy. 2017; 100 ():350-358.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristopher Jones; Paul Gilbert; Marco Raugei; Sarah Mander; Enrica Leccisi. 2017. "An approach to prospective consequential life cycle assessment and net energy analysis of distributed electricity generation." Energy Policy 100, no. : 350-358.
Given photovoltaics’ (PVs) constant improvements in terms of material usage and energy efficiency, this paper provides a timely update on their life-cycle energy and environmental performance. Single-crystalline Si (sc-Si), multi-crystalline Si (mc-Si), cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) systems are analysed, considering the actual country of production and adapting the input electricity mix accordingly. Energy pay-back time (EPBT) results for fixed-tilt ground mounted installations range from 0.5 years for CdTe PV at high-irradiation (2300 kWh/(m2·yr)) to 2.8 years for sc-Si PV at low-irradiation (1000 kWh/(m2·yr)), with corresponding quality-adjusted energy return on investment (EROIPE-eq) values ranging from over 60 to ~10. Global warming potential (GWP) per kWhel averages out at ~30 g(CO2-eq), with lower values (down to ~10 g) for CdTe PV at high irradiation, and up to ~80 g for Chinese sc-Si PV at low irradiation. In general, results point to CdTe PV as the best performing technology from an environmental life-cycle perspective, also showing a remarkable improvement for current production modules in comparison with previous generations. Finally, we determined that one-axis tracking installations can improve the environmental profile of PV systems by approximately 10% for most impact metrics.
Enrica Leccisi; Marco Raugei; Vasilis Fthenakis. The Energy and Environmental Performance of Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Systems—A Timely Update. Energies 2016, 9, 622 .
AMA StyleEnrica Leccisi, Marco Raugei, Vasilis Fthenakis. The Energy and Environmental Performance of Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Systems—A Timely Update. Energies. 2016; 9 (8):622.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEnrica Leccisi; Marco Raugei; Vasilis Fthenakis. 2016. "The Energy and Environmental Performance of Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Systems—A Timely Update." Energies 9, no. 8: 622.
We performed a comprehensive and internally consistent assessment of the energy performance of the full range of electricity production technologies in the United Kingdom, integrating the viewpoints offered by net energy analysis (NEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). Specifically, the energy return on investment (EROI), net-to-gross energy output ratio (NTG) and non-renewable cumulative energy demand (nr-CED) indicators were calculated for coal, oil, gas, biomass, nuclear, hydro, wind and PV electricity. Results point to wind, and to a lesser extent PV, as the most recommendable technologies overall in order to foster a transition towards an improved electricity grid mix in the UK, from both points of view of short-term effectiveness at providing a net energy gain to support the multiple societal energy consumption patterns, and long-term energy sustainability (the latter being inversely proportional to the reliance on non-renewable primary energy sources). The importance to maintain a sufficient installed capacity of readily-dispatchable gas-fired electricity is also recognised.
Marco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi. A comprehensive assessment of the energy performance of the full range of electricity generation technologies deployed in the United Kingdom. Energy Policy 2016, 90, 46 -59.
AMA StyleMarco Raugei, Enrica Leccisi. A comprehensive assessment of the energy performance of the full range of electricity generation technologies deployed in the United Kingdom. Energy Policy. 2016; 90 ():46-59.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarco Raugei; Enrica Leccisi. 2016. "A comprehensive assessment of the energy performance of the full range of electricity generation technologies deployed in the United Kingdom." Energy Policy 90, no. : 46-59.