Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin

Photovoltaic (PV) system is known as a clean electrification mode considering almost no obvious emissions during its operation. However, when considering its entire life cycle, the PV system still consumes certain amount of primary energy and impacts the environment. Therefore, life cycle assessment...

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主要作者: Mohd Nordin, Atiqah Hamizah
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语言:English
出版: 2022
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spelling my-uitm-ir.726422024-03-11T08:41:27Z Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin 2022 Mohd Nordin, Atiqah Hamizah Photovoltaic power systems Photovoltaic (PV) system is known as a clean electrification mode considering almost no obvious emissions during its operation. However, when considering its entire life cycle, the PV system still consumes certain amount of primary energy and impacts the environment. Therefore, life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to assess primary energy consumption and environmental impacts of PV systems. Nevertheless, LCA results become unreliable when site-dependent data for appropriate time frame are not considered. In addition, as LCA of different PV module technologies was usually conducted without modifying the inventory of the associated balance-of-system components to meet the specifications of the PV module, the interpretation of results becomes less accurate. In Malaysia, the existing LCA study for large-scale PV system was not conducted using foreground data, thus reducing the representativeness of the results. Moreover, as the number of PV systems is expected to surge in the near future, the PV waste will correspondingly increase, hence presenting a new environmental challenge with the absence of PV end-of-life management policy in Malaysia. Therefore, this study presents the LCA of large-scale PV system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia. The life cycle inventory model of a large-scale PV system in Malaysia was first developed before the primary energy consumption and environmental impacts were quantified. Then, the effect of different PV system configurations on the energy and environmental indicators was evaluated. Later, PV end-of-life policy options were formulated based on life cycle approach. The results showed that the energy payback time and global warming impact of the system are 3.43 years and 30.95 g CO2-eq/kWh respectively, which are 8.74 times and 19 times lower than system lifetime and Malaysian grid emission factor respectively. When comparing different system configurations, the large-scale PV system using cadmium telluride modules provides better energy and environmental indicators compared to crystalline silicon modules. Apart from that, system using central inverters provides better energy and environmental indicators compared to string inverters. Besides that, when comparing PV end-of-life policy options, regulatory approach yields greater benefits than voluntary approach in terms of quantity of recycled PV modules, environment, primary energy consumption and economic implications. In short, this study highlights the energy and environmental hotspots of the large-scale PV system that could provide insights for PV designers and increase awareness among the PV industry and society. Also, the developed policy options shed light on the future impacts and potentials of PV end-of-life management in Malaysia. 2022 Thesis https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/72642/ https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/72642/2/72642.pdf text en public phd doctoral Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) College of Engineering Sulaiman, Shahril Irwan
institution Universiti Teknologi MARA
collection UiTM Institutional Repository
language English
advisor Sulaiman, Shahril Irwan
topic Photovoltaic power systems
spellingShingle Photovoltaic power systems
Mohd Nordin, Atiqah Hamizah
Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin
description Photovoltaic (PV) system is known as a clean electrification mode considering almost no obvious emissions during its operation. However, when considering its entire life cycle, the PV system still consumes certain amount of primary energy and impacts the environment. Therefore, life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to assess primary energy consumption and environmental impacts of PV systems. Nevertheless, LCA results become unreliable when site-dependent data for appropriate time frame are not considered. In addition, as LCA of different PV module technologies was usually conducted without modifying the inventory of the associated balance-of-system components to meet the specifications of the PV module, the interpretation of results becomes less accurate. In Malaysia, the existing LCA study for large-scale PV system was not conducted using foreground data, thus reducing the representativeness of the results. Moreover, as the number of PV systems is expected to surge in the near future, the PV waste will correspondingly increase, hence presenting a new environmental challenge with the absence of PV end-of-life management policy in Malaysia. Therefore, this study presents the LCA of large-scale PV system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia. The life cycle inventory model of a large-scale PV system in Malaysia was first developed before the primary energy consumption and environmental impacts were quantified. Then, the effect of different PV system configurations on the energy and environmental indicators was evaluated. Later, PV end-of-life policy options were formulated based on life cycle approach. The results showed that the energy payback time and global warming impact of the system are 3.43 years and 30.95 g CO2-eq/kWh respectively, which are 8.74 times and 19 times lower than system lifetime and Malaysian grid emission factor respectively. When comparing different system configurations, the large-scale PV system using cadmium telluride modules provides better energy and environmental indicators compared to crystalline silicon modules. Apart from that, system using central inverters provides better energy and environmental indicators compared to string inverters. Besides that, when comparing PV end-of-life policy options, regulatory approach yields greater benefits than voluntary approach in terms of quantity of recycled PV modules, environment, primary energy consumption and economic implications. In short, this study highlights the energy and environmental hotspots of the large-scale PV system that could provide insights for PV designers and increase awareness among the PV industry and society. Also, the developed policy options shed light on the future impacts and potentials of PV end-of-life management in Malaysia.
format Thesis
qualification_name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.)
qualification_level Doctorate
author Mohd Nordin, Atiqah Hamizah
author_facet Mohd Nordin, Atiqah Hamizah
author_sort Mohd Nordin, Atiqah Hamizah
title Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin
title_short Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin
title_full Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin
title_fullStr Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin
title_full_unstemmed Life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in Malaysia / Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin
title_sort life cycle assessment of large-scale photovoltaic system and end-of-life policy formulation in malaysia / atiqah hamizah mohd nordin
granting_institution Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
granting_department College of Engineering
publishDate 2022
url https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/72642/2/72642.pdf
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