A life-cycle assessment is a systematic analysis of the environmental impacts associated with a product throughout the different stages of its life cycle. This can include raw material extraction and production, manufacturing, transport, use and end-of-life treatment, as well as associated upstream and downstream processes.
The environmental performance of Qcells products throughout their life cycle is an important consideration for us. By including information from processes upstream and downstream of production at Hanwha Qcells locations, we assess environmental impacts associated with the value chain and end-of-life treatment.
We are working to develop life-cycle assessments for our products across the different stages of their life cycle, from silicon extraction, wafer manufacturing and cell production to module manufacturing and the use of Qcells solar modules in ground-mounted and rooftop systems.
These assessments can take into account factors including production and packaging materials, energy consumption, transport distances, emissions and waste generated at each stage of the life cycle. This helps us to better understand the environmental impacts associated with our products and identify potential areas for improvement.
We use assessment software and scientifically recognised databases with the aim of obtaining consistent and comparable results. Indicators analysed can include the product carbon footprint and energy payback time, enabling the environmental and energy performance of photovoltaic modules to be assessed using defined and measurable criteria.
During operation, photovoltaic modules generate electricity from solar energy without direct CO₂ emissions. When the entire life cycle is considered, life-cycle assessments allow the emissions associated with production, transport, use and end-of-life treatment to be quantified. Transparent presentation of these results helps provide verifiable information about the environmental performance of our products.
Energy payback time
According to our life-cycle assessment, the energy payback time of our modules installed in a representative rooftop system is 1.42 years. For the modules alone, excluding system components, the energy payback time is 1 year. The calculations include all stages of the life cycle.
Excess energy
The excess energy shows the amount of times the electricity generation in the use phase exceeds the invested energy in the production process.
Energy demand separated of the different components
The presentation shows which production stage in the life cycle of a PV module is the most energy intesive one. In this case the wafer production has the biggest ratio (55.3%) followed from the module conversion (19.8%).
Carbon footprint
The carbon footprint shows the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of a product throughout its complete life cycle.
