Photovoltaics for buildings and greenhouses: Organic solar cells and other technologies

In light of the increasing environmental awareness, the present study is about life-cycle assessment of the Balance of System (BOS) of Photovoltaics (PVs), underlining the advantages of Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs). A closer look at the literature on PV shows that there is a dearth of studies which...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Lamnatou, Chrysovalantou, Chemisana Villegas, Daniel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
Repositorio:Repositori Obert UdL
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.udl.cat:10459.1/465015
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2023.103062
https://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/465015
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Photovoltaic (PV) technologies
Balance of System (BOS)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Sustainable buildings/greenhouses
Agrivoltaics
Descripción
Sumario:In light of the increasing environmental awareness, the present study is about life-cycle assessment of the Balance of System (BOS) of Photovoltaics (PVs), underlining the advantages of Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs). A closer look at the literature on PV shows that there is a dearth of studies which place emphasis on PVs with lightweight BOS systems, highlighting the importance of flexible/lightweight PV modules for buildings and greenhouses. To fill this literature gap, the present article sets out to: i) offer an overview of BOS, ii) analyse the environmental profile of the BOS of a grid-connected PV rooftop system, iii) estimate the avoided impacts of PV systems which need small amounts of BOS materials and iv) present critical factors for OPV greenhouses and PV challenges. Considering the results of the present study as well as results of other studies, BOS impacts range from: i) 6 to 181 kg CO2.eq/m2 of PV module, ii) 55 to 1900 MJprim/m2 of PV module. On the other hand, taking into account that the avoided impacts of a PV system are inextricably linked to the electricity mix of a certain country, a case study based on different electricity mixes (OPV system: Spain; Italy; Portugal) is presented.