Life Cycle Assessment of a Rotationally Asymmetrical Compound Parabolic Concentrator (RACPC)

Zawadzki, Przemyslaw; Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus; Abu-Bakar, Siti Hawa; Bani, Nurul Aini; Abubakar Mas�ud, Abdullahi; Ardila-Rey, Jorge Alfredo; Munir, Abu Bakar

Abstract

Integrating a concentrator into the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) design has resulted in a new technology known as the building integrated concentrating photovoltaic (BICPV). The rotationally asymmetrical compound parabolic concentrator (RACPC) is an example of a concentrator design that has been explored for use in BICPV. This paper evaluates the life cycle assessment (LCA) for the RACPC-PV module, which has never been explored before. The LCA of the RACPC-PV module has found a cost reduction of 29.09% and a reduction of 11.76% of embodied energy material manufacture when compared to a conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) module. The energy payback time for an RACPC-PV and a conventional PV was calculated to be 8.01 and 6.63 years, respectively. Moreover, the energy return on investment ratio was calculated to be 3.12 for a conventional PV and 3.77 for an RACPC-PV.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 7, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 10, 2020
• Publication Date: Jun 10, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2020
• Journal: Sustainability
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 11
• Article Number: 4750
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114750
• Keywords: solar photovoltaic; solar concentrator; life cycle analysis; rotationally asymmetrical compound parabolic concentrator
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2701632