Title:	Life Cycle Assessment of Perovskite Solar Cells in Single Junction and Tandem Configuration
Author(s):	J.C. Gomez Trillos, U. Brand, S. Peterhammer, T. Vogt
Keywords:	Environmental Effect, Tandem, LCA, CO2, Perovskite, Footprint
Topic:	Photovoltaic Modules and BoS Components
Subtopic:	Sustainability and Recycling
Event:	35th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
Session:	5CV.3.68
Pages:	1399 - 1406
ISBN:	3-936338-50-7
Paper DOI:	10.4229/35thEUPVSEC20182018-5CV.3.68
Price:	0,00 EUR
Document(s):	paper, poster

Abstract/Summary:

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We present a cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of perovskite solar cells in single junction and in tandem with crystalline silicon to investigate their environmental impacts. We compared both configurations to other conventional technologies such as s-Si, p-Si, CIS, and CdTe regarding cumulative energy demand, energy payback time per m2 of module, and further impact categories included in the CML-IA impact assessment method referred to kWh of produced energy. The results show that the modules containing perovskite absorber in single configuration have the lowest cumulative and energy payback time among the assessed technologies. However, the modules containing tandems with crystalline silicon have the highest cumulative energy demand but lower energy payback time compared to c-Si and mc-Si. Both perovskite technologies exhibit higher global warming potential per kWh of produced energy compared to other technologies due to their short lifetime. Furthermore, additional comparisons concerning CML-IA impact categories show that the improvement via efficiency and lifetime is most critical, e.g. for marine aquatic ecotoxicity. Although the use of perovskite absorbers is favourable from the cumulative energy demand, improvements in efficiency and lifetime are still necessary to get comparable environmental effects in other impact categories in relation to conventional photovoltaic technologies.