Carbon Footprint Of Solar Panel Manufacturing

By scott cramer although the use of solar panels is green many solar panel manufacturing processes are not.

Carbon footprint of solar panel manufacturing.

Firstly the extraction of quartz the crystalline form of silicon and of the other materials necessary for the construction of the panels. For instance concentrated solar power csp has a footprint of 20 grams of carbon dioxide co2 per. The fact is that even solar power plants have an environmental footprint on a lifecycle basis. The figures for ccs are elevated for two reasons.

A 2016 study reports that the overall emissions produced in this process decreased by 17 to 24 percent every time install capacity has doubled in the last 40 years. The footprint of solar comes in at 6gco2e kwh and wind is also 4gco2e kwh. Panels produced in china which relies heavily on coal for power have a larger carbon footprint than those produced in europe. In contrast coal ccs 109g gas ccs 78g hydro 97g and bioenergy 98g have relatively high emissions compared to a global average target for a 2c world of 15gco2e kwh in 2050.

The production of photovoltaic panels still has an important carbon footprint and creates a series of waste liquid and gaseous by products that are harmful to the environment. During the lifecycle of a pv system the majority of greenhouse gas emissions occurs during the manufacturing process. Solar energy is a naturally occurring renewable energy source which is why more and more people are choosing to invest in solar panels to power their homes. Heath and colleagues at the doe s brookhaven national laboratory found that the footprint of solar power varied from 14 to 45 g co2 kwh depending on the type of material used.

How do solar panels reduce your carbon emissions. A study released in may by northwestern university and argonne national laboratory found that the carbon footprint of a panel from china is twice that of one from europe because china has fewer. To create a solar panel caustic materials will emit greenhouse gases. Solar panel manufacturers need electricity and thermal energy and carbon emissions from their generation can vary widely with location.