ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION OF PV ON BUILDINGS: MARKET STIMULUS OR MARKET BARRIER?

摘要

In this paper the environmental and energy performance of PV systems as part of a building is investigated, following the assessment methods in the latest Dutch building code. It is shown that the use of two separate assessments of materials environmental performance next to energy performance can form a stumbling block for PV acceptance by building designers. This is illustrated in a case study for a house with a 3 kWp PV system in 3 solar technology variants: crystalline silicon, cadmium telluride and a-Si foil. An improved assessment is presented which shows the integral environmental impacts of materials and energy over the building life cycle. With this integrated method the environmental benefits of PV on a building are clearly shown. Furthermore we discuss the need for good quality LCA data on state-of the-art PV components in order to provide building designers with the right tools and data for optimal building design, including PV systems.