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A Life Cycle Sustainability Study of Perovskite Solar Cell Technologies

Zhang, Jingyi
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5833-4554
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1554289816394232

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, EMC - Mechanical Engineering.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted enormous attention in recent years due to their high theoretical power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) and relatively low cost. The outstanding performance is attributed to the unique physical parameters of perovskite materials, and these physical parameters were analyzed by mathematic models in this study. Although PSCs have exceptional performance, their environmental sustainability causes grave concerns due to the lead material contained in the perovskite dyes and material- and energy-intensive processes involved in the manufacturing process. The cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of a liquid-state titania nanotube (TNT)-based PSCs were evaluated by using an attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) method, and it has been found that the lead production was not a major contributor to the human toxicity potential (HTP), which only takes up less than 0.3% of HTP in the life cycle. Particle size and distribution of nano-wastes and nano-emissions generated from the TNT film fabrication were also characterized in the study. With the development of perovskite PV technologies, different types of solid-state PSCs were developed to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE), stability, and environmental performance. The cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of five representative PSCs were evaluated and compared by building LCA models. The solvent usage was identified to be the main reason for the various LCA results among different systems, and the replacement of fresh organic solvents with recycled organic solvents results in more than 26% of GWP reduction in all systems. Currently, PSCs are expected to be scaled up to fulfill commercial demands. The most promising manufacturing methods to fabricate the large-scale perovskite PV systems were identified, and their environmental impacts were evaluated and compared based on their LCA models. The greenhouse gas emissions generated from producing 1 kWh of electricity for the large-scale perovskite PV system range from 0.05 to 3.5 kg CO2-eq. depending on different lifetimes. The sustainability performances, involving technical, environmental, and economic perspectives, have been compared with those of c-Si solar cells, and it has been found that the environmental and economic performance are tightly connected with the technical performance. In conclusion, when PSCs achieve comparable lifetime and large-scale PCE with c-Si solar cells, PSCs can have comparable or superior sustainability performance to the c-Si solar cell by the replacement of the energy-intensive or material-intensive materials with more environmentally friendly materials.
Chris Yuan (Advisor)
Yue Li (Committee Member)
Roger French (Committee Member)
Chirag Kharangate (Committee Member)
Bo Li (Committee Member)
232 p.
Environmental Engineering; Mechanical Engineering
Life cycle assessment; perovskite solar cells; sustainability performance

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zhang, J. (2019). A Life Cycle Sustainability Study of Perovskite Solar Cell Technologies [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1554289816394232

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zhang, Jingyi. A Life Cycle Sustainability Study of Perovskite Solar Cell Technologies. 2019. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1554289816394232.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zhang, Jingyi. "A Life Cycle Sustainability Study of Perovskite Solar Cell Technologies." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1554289816394232

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1554289816394232
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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.