Custos energéticos na produção, manufatura e operação de painéis fotovoltaicos: uma análise comparativa de sustentabilidade frente ao potencial de geração de energia

Abstract

Electricity is fundamental in any current society, which in turn becomes increasingly dependent on electricity. This growing dependence on energy is in-creasingly in demand from electric generation systems, fostering studies on re-newable alternatives that will replace the current energy matrix, which is hostil from fossil sources. Although considered a “clean” power generation in its operation, photovol-taic technology, during its life cycle, consumes a large amount of energy, and consequently emits greenhouse gases (GHG) during the stages of production and manufacture of panels. For the most accurate energy and environmental costs involved in this technology, we must consider material production, fabrica-tion, module assembly, material transportation, installation, maintenance, dispo-sal or even recycling processes. This paper aims to examine the sustainability and performance of crystal-line silicon photovoltaic panel based electricity generation systems, performing a complete review of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies in order to estimate the energy costs involved and the return time of the invested energy, considering the existing processes, from production to the end of the useful life.