Life Cycle Assessment of Photovoltaic Systems — Trying To Fight Deep-Seated Prejudices

The strongest and most deep-seated prejudices against photovoltaic power generation concern ecological aspects and the energy payback time. Although these aspects are still of no relevance in the present situation due to the very low contribution of photovoltaics to total power generation, they have to be considered with reference to the importance attributed to photovoltaic power generation in long term energy economical scenarios (see Sect. 1.3.2). The latter includes photovoltaic electrical standalone off-grid systems in developing countries with a weak infrastructure, as well as grid-connected systems. In order to achieve a share of more than 1% of the worldwide electricity sup-ply, photovoltaics need an annual production rate of several times 10 GWp. This means that photovoltaic power generation must be treated as a potential large-scale technology, and it must therefore be assessed ecologically like a mature power plant technology. Consequently, an integral energetic and ecological life-cycle assessment of photovoltaic power generation is already needed today.