Life Cycle Assessment of solar powered lighting products for rural areas in South East Asia

Autor: Durlinger, B., Reinders, A., Toxopeus, M.
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2010
Předmět:
Zdroj: 25th EU PV SEC Conference, art 4DO.10.6, 3917-3925
STARTPAGE=3917;ENDPAGE=3925;TITLE=25th EU PV SEC Conference, art 4DO.10.6
ISSN: 3917-3925
DOI: 10.4229/25theupvsec2010-4do.10.6
Popis: 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 3917-3925
In our paper we will evaluate the environment effects of low power PV lighting products which are increasingly used in rural areas in South-East Asia by means of a life cycle analysis (LCA). The main goals of the project are to determine (1) the environmental impacts, (2) which parts are contributing to environmental impacts that occur, and (3) the accuracy of an LCA of these PV products. Our study is based on an entrepreneurial case in Cambodia. Three PV lighting products with a nominal power of resp. 0.7 Wp, 4.5 Wp and 40 Wp have been compared with three alternatives for lighting services. The LCA was executed with Simapro software using the Ecoinvent 2.1 database and applying the ReCiPe 2008 method for the impact assessment. An important conclusion of the study is that solar PV lighting products have less environmental impact than conventional lighting solutions, such as lighting services from kerosene lamps and powered by car batteries. The environmental profile of small size PV lighting products can be improved by 50 % by recycling of the batteries. From an evaluation of the accuracy of an LCA of PV lighting products it can be concluded that impacts of these PV lighting products are lower or comparable to those of lighting by compact fluorescent lights powered by electricity from the grid in the South East Asian context. As such they offer an environmentally beneficial lighting service for off-grid households.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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