Life-cycle assessment of residential-scale grid-connected photovoltaic system in malaysia based on monocrystalline silicon modules

• Published in: International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive Systems
• Main Author: Mohd Nordin A.H.; Sulaiman S.I.; Shaari S.; Mustapa R.F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science 2020
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85081548808&doi=10.11591%2fijpeds.v11.i2.pp677-684&partnerID=40&md5=17468af8d40f143972ba891ef5855449

Even though PV systems have been promoted as a green form of electrification, such systems are still contributing to environmental impacts after considering life-cycle impact during material extraction, manufacturing processes of its components, installation, operation, and maintenance. This paper presents a life-cycle assessment to quantify the environmental impact of residential-scale grid-connected PV systems in Malaysia using monocrystalline silicon PV module. LCA had been carried out by using OpenLCA 1.8 software, Ecoinvent 3.5 database, and impact assessment method of IMPACT2002+ and CED. The influence of varying system capacity from 3 to 12 kWp, system lifetime of 21, 25 and 30 years, and solar irradiation of 1560.8, 1651.8, & 1935.5 kWh/m2/yr, were investigated. The results revealed that the greenhouse gas emissions rate, cumulative energy demand, and energy payback time of residential-scale grid-connected PV systems in Malaysia ranged from 37.97 to 67.26 g CO2-eq/kWh, 4387.10 to 4699.99 MJ/m2, and 6.37 to 7.90 years, respectively. This study also evaluated indicators of energy return on investment. The overall finding implies that the installation of residential-scale grid-connected PV systems in Malaysia offers significant potential for GHG emissions reduction in the country. © 2020, Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.