ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACTS OF SOLAR
POWER(PV)
PRESENTED BY: ANKUR JAHAGIRDAR
 NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

1. Carbon Di-oxide emissions (Carbon Footprint)

2. Up-front Energy
3. Chemicals
4. Recycling
5. Land use
6. Water use
 CARBON FOOTPRINT OF SOLAR PANEL
MANUFACTURING
 Generating electricity using solar PV panels does not produce greenhouse
gases directly.
 But emissions are associated with other parts of the panels’ lifecycle:
Manufacturing and Transporting them, for example.
 The exact carbon footprint of any particular solar panels depends on many
factors, including the source of the materials, the distance they have to be
transported and the energy used by the manufacturing plants.
 A table is shown below where the detailing of the impact on emissions of greenhouse gases from
the various processes associated with the manufacture of solar panels is stated:

CONCEPT REPURCUSSION
Production of solar cells 78%
Electricity consumption at production 13.8%
stage
Other stages of product lifecycle 8.2%

 The World Nuclear Association estimates the lifetime emissions output of Solar PV to be
70gCO2/KWh.
 CARBON EMISSION INTENSITY
 The values observed here are paramount to understanding the lifetime emission profile from
solar energy and other energy methods.

 Both the emission intensity profile shows solar PV being 3x to 10x more environmentally friendly
over a 30 year life span compared to energy generated from coal.
 ENERGY

 The manufacturing of solar panels requires more energy up-front to produce

than other forms of energy generation.
 This is due to the manufacturing process required to transform raw materials
into usable photovoltaics.
 Quartz being the major raw material , must be processed, cleaned and then
manufactured with some other components.
 Heating the quartz during the processing stage requires very high heat.
 All of this requires lots of up-front energy.
 For example: We take 250W solar panel
 A 250W Solar Panel would generate energy (in terms of KWh) during it lifetime as follows:
 Assumptions: Lifetime: 25 years
 Degradation: 0.7% per year
 Installation: In India (So assume 300 sunshine days)
 Peak sunshine hours: 5.5 Hrs/Day
 So KWH generated per day would be 250w * 5.5 = 1.375 KWH
 KWH Generated per year would be 1.375*300 = 4125 KWHrs
 With degradation Average Annual Generation would be 4125 * (1-.007) = 4096 KWh
 So energy generated in 25 years would be 4096*25 = 114690 KWh or 114.69 MWh.
 The Energy consumed for making a 250W Panel would essentially depend on
a) Module Manufacturing capacity of the Plant : Could range from 5MW to 1 GW .
b) Manual /Semi automatic/Automatic manufacturing. Energy consumption increases with automation.
c) Type and efficiency of Plant and Machinery used in the entire value chain.
d) Efficiency of Solar cells used in making the Solar Panel
e) Quality of raw materials used
f) Source of power for manufacturing the Solar Panels: Grid/Diesel/ Solar itself ( some companies use their rejected modules to generate own captive power).
g) The most important ideology is that when we make a Solar Panel of 250W Now, we are actually building capacity for energy generation for the next 25 years.
 In a nutshell , when Solar Panels were initially manufactured , the processes were not efficient and were energy guzzling. But now times have changed and it
would not be wrong to state that the Energy produced by a Solar Panel of 250W Combined with the point g above far outweighs the Energy consumed for
making the Solar Panel.
 CHEMICALS USED

 The metallurgical grade silicon is 99.6% pure after the pre-processing is done.
 However, 99.6% is too high for semi-conductor use. So this silicon must go
through a second chemical rich process.
 The silicon is mixed with copper and HCl to produce trichlorosilane gas which
is then reduced by hydrogen to silane gas.
 This process is very energy intensive and materially wasteful.
 Additionally silicon dust present safety dangers and silane gas is highly
explosive.
 Cadmium is also a major component in the production of solar panels.
 Only half of the cadmium is used in the process and the rest is waste.
 Hence the risk of cadmium polluting the water or air from improper disposal exists.
 During production of solar panels green house gases like Nitrogen Trifluoride(17,000 GHG
equivalent) and Sodium Hexafluoride(22,800 GHG equivalent)are released into the atmosphere.
 POSITIVE SIDE

 Toxic chemicals are required during the manufacturing stage, but hazardous
materials are required for almost every type of energy generation.
 Coal must be cleaned with chemicals and burned.
 Natural gas must be extracted and burned.
 Nuclear energy itself requires a highly radioactive material.
 Wind turbines use metal which must be mined, and processed too.
 RECYCLING

 Although solar panel recycling has not become a major issue yet, it will in the
coming decades as solar panels need to be replaced.
 Technology does however tend to keep up with demand. The automobile
recycling industry did not begin until the auto industry was well underway.
 The same can be said for other recycling industries such as bottle depots,
biofuel, and electronics.
 LAND USE

 Depending on the location, larger utility-scale solar facilities can raise

concerns about land degradation and habitat loss.
 Total land area requirements varies depending on the technology, the
topography of the site, and the intensity of the solar resource.
 Estimates for utility-scale PV systems range from 3.5 to 10 acres per
megawatt.
 Unlike wind facilities, there is less opportunity for solar projects to share land
with agricultural uses.
 However, land impacts from utility-scale solar systems can be minimized by
siting them at lower-quality locations such as brownfields, abandoned mining
land, or existing transportation and transmission corridors.
 WATER USE

 Solar PV cells do not use water for generating electricity.

 However, as in all manufacturing processes, some water is used to
manufacture solar PV components.
 Water use depends on the plant design, plant location, and the type of
cooling system.
 CONCLUSION

 Solar power is not perfect, but overall it provides a positive net

environmental impact and excellent long-term financials.
 The energy required to create a solar panel will be recouped after just 2 to 4
years.
 Even considering the manufacturing and processing stage of solar, the
emissions generated are 3x to 10x less than generating the same amount of
energy from fossil fuels.
 No energy form is perfect, some are better than the others.
THANK YOU!