Abstract
Worldwide electricity consumption increases by 2.6% each year. Greenhouse gas emissions due to electricity production raise by 2.1% per year on average. The development of efficient low-carbon-footprint renewable energy systems is urgently needed. CPVMatch investigates the feasibility of mirror or lens-based High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) systems. Thanks to innovative four junction solar cells, new glass coatings, Position Sensitive Detectors (PSD), and DC/DC converters, it is possible to reach concentration levels higher than 800× and a module efficiency between 36.7% and 41.6%. From a circular economy’s standpoint, the use of concentration technologies lowers the need in active material, increases recyclability, and reduces the risk of material contamination. By using the Life Cycle Assessment method, it is demonstrated that HCPV presents a carbon footprint ranking between 16.4 and 18.4 g CO2-eq/kWh. A comparison with other energy means for 16 impact categories including primary energy demand and particle emissions points out that the environmental footprint of HCPV is typically 50 to 100 times lower than fossil fuels footprint. HCPV’s footprint is also three times lower than that of crystalline photovoltaic solutions and is close to the environmental performance of wind power and hydropower.
Highlights
The total amount of consumed energy on earth has raised by 13.7% between 2007 and 2016 [1].During this time period, electricity production has continuously risen, with an annual increase of 2.6%on average due to the increase of electricity share of 1.8% in the total energy demand [1]
By using the Life Cycle Assessment method, it is demonstrated that High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) presents a carbon footprint ranking between 16.4 and 18.4 g CO2 -eq/kWh
We modeled transportation steps based on expert knowledge, and details are presented in the life cycle inventory section
Summary
The total amount of consumed energy on earth has raised by 13.7% between 2007 and 2016 [1].During this time period, electricity production has continuously risen, with an annual increase of 2.6%on average due to the increase of electricity share of 1.8% in the total energy demand [1]. The total amount of consumed energy on earth has raised by 13.7% between 2007 and 2016 [1]. During this time period, electricity production has continuously risen, with an annual increase of 2.6%. On average due to the increase of electricity share of 1.8% in the total energy demand [1]. Electricity production from burning fossil fuel increases annually by 2.1% on average. In the last 10 years, the amount of fossil fuels burnt to electricity has been growing. Despite the increase of the share of renewable energy in the world’s electricity mix (0.55% per year for 10 years), the overall carbon footprint of electricity production on a global level has been increasing continuously
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