Abstract
Solar home systems (SHS) represent one of the most promising technologies for a rapid and independent electrification in those areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) without access to electricity. This study addressed the environmental impact of SHS in SSA through updated life cycle inventories and five impact categories: greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, fossil fuels, metal and water depletion and human toxicity. Sixteen scenarios were considered, including manufacturing, transportation, recycling and user-related variables, such as the installation site, adequacy of SHS user operation and battery lifespan. The results showed that lead-acid batteries were the largest contributor to environmental impact among the SHS components, accounting for up to 36–76% of the environmental impact indicators. Apart from the components, user training for SHS operation, with the goal of maximizing usable energy and battery lifetime, proved to be critical to achieve improvements in the energy payback time and GHG emissions, which (under scenarios of high solar resources) can reach the range of 5.3–7.1 years and 0.14–0.18 kgCO2 eq/kWh, respectively. In addition, SHS GHG emission factors were benchmarked with those of other electrification approaches, such as national grids, 100% PV and hybrid PV-diesel off-grid mini grids and off-grid diesel generators. SHS achieved GHG emission factor values equivalent to PV-based mini grids in most scenarios and was strikingly lower compared to SSA national grids and diesel generators.
Highlights
An estimated of 789 million people lack electricity globally endangering the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all for 2030” [1]
greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, FD and WD are higher if PV panels are manufactured in China vs
The high use of lignite in Germany for electricity generation had a noticeable impact on human toxicity (HT), especially for PV module manufacturing—47% higher
Summary
An estimated of 789 million people lack electricity globally endangering the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all for 2030” [1]. Accounts for 573 million people without access to electricity, mainly in rural and remote areas, in which grid extension remains unplanned [2]. While off-grid mini grids are attractive from the techno-economic side for unelectrified dense populations without plans for grid extension, remote scattered households, seminomadic populations and unelectrified households close to the grid, such as unplanned off-grid suburbs in cities, usually remain out of these national plans for mini grids. It is in these situations where SHS represents the most feasible solution for a rapid and independent access to electricity. This explains an estimated 136 million people with access to an electricity source of 11–50 W globally, 85% based on SHS [5]
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