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The state of California is the foremost leader in solar photovoltaics (PV) installations in the United States. With 1,390,240 installations and 24.76% of the state's energy coming from solar, the demand for PV modules is steadily increasing. Most PV modules have an expected lifetime of 25-30 years. However, due to repowering or early module failure, module lifetime can often be shorter than anticipated. Current studies calculate the environmental impact of PV systems based on ideal installation conditions and a full 25-year module lifetime. This study considers the impact on the life cycle of PV systems from early PV module retirement and actual system installation in California. Using the life cycle cumulative energy demand, electricity data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and greenhouse gases, carbon payback time (CPBT) was evaluated. Data from various PV module rooftop residential installations in 2019 were collected from the California NEM database. Information on the system design (tilt, azimuth, module model) and module specification sheets were used to calculate the cumulative electricity generated in kilowatt-hours (kWh) over the system' lifetime. The calculated average CPBT was 2.8 years, shorter than most of the system lifetimes, and the mean number of zero carbon years experienced by earlier retired systems was about 5 years. Although the rapid movement towards solar energy is promising and essential as reliance on greener energy increases, attention must be paid to the diverse lifespans of PV modules, system design, and performance to substantiate or reject the assumption that PV always have a positive impact on the environment.
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On the economics of rooftop solar PV adoption
Much has been written on the rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption in the U.S., but granular economic assessment at large scale is missing. We provide household level PV economic assessment for a medium size city in North Central Florida, and analyze the economic viability of these installations. Results show that a large number of households will not benefit from solar installations. Further, economic viability is heavily reliant on incentives whose future is uncertain at best. Our analysis did not reveal significant variations in economic viability across different household values --- a proxy we used to differentiate household wealth. Yet, building permits and installation locations indicate economically disadvantaged communities have much lower installation rates as has been the main conclusion in the earlier literature. We argue economic assessment for PV should extend beyond simple benefit--cost analysis. A more nuanced approach should be taken in PV feasibility assessment, and structuring incentive schemes.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2122313
- PAR ID:
- 10416346
- Publisher / Repository:
- Energy Policy
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Energy Policy
- Volume:
- 178
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 0301-4215
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 113611
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113611
