Quantifying Energy flows in PV Circularity Processes

Heather M. Mirletz, Silvana Ovaitt, Ashley Gaulding, Seetharaman Sridhar, Teresa Barnes

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

As sustainable deployment and end-of-life management become a hot topic to timely address in the PV community, a dynamic comparative evaluation of the benefits of circular pathways such as reuse, and remanufacturing, recycling has not been performed holistically beyond material flows or LCA analysis. Energy flows are critical for evaluating energy generation technologies. Previously they have been used to compare renewables to fossil generation and then between PV technologies. This paper quantifies energy flows to evaluate circular pathways for PV. The energy flows tracking manufacturing, generation, and losses complementary to the mass flows of silicon are quantified leveraging the PV ICE framework.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2022 IEEE 49th Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, PVSC 2022
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages299-301
Number of pages3
ISBN (Electronic)9781728161174
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Event49th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, PVSC 2022 - Philadelphia, United States
Duration: Jun 5 2022Jun 10 2022

Publication series

NameConference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
Volume2022-June
ISSN (Print)0160-8371

Conference

Conference49th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, PVSC 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPhiladelphia
Period6/5/226/10/22

Keywords

  • circular economy
  • energy flows
  • energy return on investment (EROI)
  • photovoltaics
  • recycle
  • remanufacture

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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