Life Cycle Assessment of a Building Integrated Concentrated Photovoltaic scheme

• Published in: Applied energy 2013-11, Vol.111, p.505-514
• Main Authors: Menoufi, Karim, Chemisana, Daniel, Rosell, Joan I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building Integrated Concentrated Photovoltaics (BICPV); Concentrated photovoltaics; ecosystem services; Energy; Environmental impact; Equipments, installations and applications; Exact sciences and technology; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); life cycle impact assessment; Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA); Natural energy; Photovoltaic conversion; Reflectors; Solar energy
• ISSN: 0306-2619; 1872-9118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.05.037

•A gap is found in literature regarding the LCA studies of BICPV schemes.•The BICPV scheme installed has significantly lower environmental impact compared to the conventional widely used BIPV ones.•Some design improvements are foreseen within the installed BICPV scheme components. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of a Building Integrated Concentrated Photovoltaic (BICPV) scheme at the University of Lleida (Spain) is conducted. Assumptions for representing a real building are considered, and a comparison to a hypothetical conventional Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) scheme is established. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is performed using the EI99 methodology, which is considered to be the reference. In addition, the environmental impact is re-evaluated using the EPS 2000 methodology. The results show a significant extent of the environmental benefits gained using the BICPV schemes. Some differences in the components impact contribution percentages are noticed between the EI99 and the EPS 2000 methodologies. Nevertheless, both methodologies coincide in the conclusion of the significant environmental impact reduction reached from replacing the conventional BIPV schemes with the BICPV ones. Recommendations for future work and system improvements are discussed as well.