In recent years, strong population growth coupled with improved living conditions has led to an increase in energy demand worldwide. Photovoltaics (PV), in which electricity is produced from solar radiation, emerges as one of the most promising technologies to meet the high energy demand and contribute to a reduction in climate-changing gas emissions. In recent years, PV technology has reached competitive levels of efficiency and has become the focus of many studies regarding the search for innovative technologies to enable the decarbonization of the energy sector.
This study investigated the potential environmental impacts by power generation with a PV system equipped with modules with Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) cells. With a power output of 84.73 MW and installed in the two hypothetical sites of Piacenza and Catania in order to assess the influence of incident radiation on the results, the system was analyzed in two configurations: the first involves the installation of IBC modules on single-axis solar trackers, whereas the second involves the installation on fixed structures. The analysis of environmental impacts was conducted following the Life Cycle Assessment approach, applied in accordance with the most recent guidelines introduced by the European Union and the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, and including all phases of the life cycle (from extraction and processing of raw materials to disposal and end of life of the installation). The impact assessment considered eleven impact categories proposed by the EF (Environmental Footprint) method to which the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and Energy Payback Time (EBPT) indicators are added.
The analysis shows a clear correlation between energy production and environmental impacts, emphasized both by the lower impacts obtained for the Catania plant compared to the Piacenza plant and by the benefits introduced by the tracker configuration, which leads to an increase in energy production. With regard to module production, it is shown that the greatest impact is associated with the silicon wafer production processes.
Although the IBC technology is definitely among those with the highest efficiency, benefits associated with it are nevertheless reduced when comparing it with two other innovative high-efficiency technologies present at the market level, namely Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) and Hetero Junction Technology (HJT).