Life-cycle assessment of p-type multi-Si back surface field (BSF) solar module in China of 2019

A completed “from cradle to grave” life cycle analysis was performed on p-multi-BSF module in China 2019, by dividing its life cycle to Production, Installation, Use and End-of-life. It considers cumulative energy demand (CED), energy payback time (EPBT) and Recipe 2016 midpoint (problem oriented) and endpoint (damage oriented) environmental impact categories. The CED of 1 kWp p-Multi-BSF solar module of 2019 was 1444.76 kWh, and the EPBT was 1.16 ~ 2.06 year due to different solar irradiance, which is further down from 2 ~ 6 years of 2014 technique level. In terms of environmental impact, the Production stage has the greatest impact on the environment, while the Use stage almost has no impact. Electricity consumption in solar cell and module fabrication, the production of multi-Si wafer contributed the most. Due to the long distance between the module fabrication factory site and the module installation site, the transportation phase cannot be ignored throughout the life cycle. Sensitivity analyses considered improvements of electrical performance and manufacturing processes. The total damage category value of the optimized model decreased to 0.92 mPt, and the EPBT can be further reduced to 0.75 years.