Identifying methods to reduce emission intensity of centralised Photovoltaic deployment for net zero by 2050: Life cycle assessment case study of a 30 MW PV plant

Photovoltaics (PV) is one of the most effective and necessary energy sources to mitigate climate change. The broad electrification scenario projects the PV market to grow from 1 TW in 2022 to over 63 TW in 2050. While increasing PV production will significantly reduce the emission intensity of electricity generation, it is still important to minimise the overall environmental impact of such a large industry. In this study, we investigated the intensity of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a 30 MW PV plant using a life cycle assessment (LCA). Based on the LCA, we propose a roadmap to reduce emissions from PV manufacturing and deployment. Decarbonising significant factors like aluminium and concrete production or the electricity demand to produce PV modules can greatly reduce the carbon budget related to PV production. Our study shows that the global warming potential (GWP) per kWh can be reduced from 11.2 to 1.7 g CO2-eq/kWh over the lifetime of the PV system (85% reduction). Using the aspects to decarbonise PV production, the roadmap is demonstrated. The cumulative GWP to reach 63 TW is initially estimated to be 44 Gt CO2-eq. Our decarbonising roadmap demonstrated that such significance can be reduced by over 37 Gt CO2-eq, equivalent to a whole year emission in year 2022.

Automated summary

Photovoltaics (PV) is an effective and necessary energy source to mitigate climate change. This study investigates the greenhouse gas emissions of a 30 MW PV plant using a life cycle assessment (LCA) and proposes a roadmap to reduce emissions from PV manufacturing and deployment. The results show that significant reductions in global warming potential can be achieved by decarbonising factors such as aluminium and concrete production or electricity demand for PV module production.