Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:51 am Post subject: EROEI of solar PV cells
how long does a photovoltaic cell have to be working so that it replaces the energy that was used in the construction,transportation etc of it? _________________ If everybody became a vegan, peak oil will not be a problem,nor will global warming,deforestation,water shortages,expensive food,famine etc.
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject: Re: EROEI of solar PV cells
Quote:
Energy Payback from Photovoltaics: Problems in Calculation
Jeff Vail, Theory of Power
Does solar energy-specifically photovoltaic (PV) panels-ever produce as much energy as the energy that was initially invested in their manufacture? Industry, academia, and government all seem to be in agreement that the answer is �yes.� (1)(2)(3) The consensus seems to be that PV produces as much energy as was used in its creation in a time period of 1-5 years, allowing PV to produce between 6 and 30 times more energy over its life than was used in its creation.
So besides shortages of refined silicon, there are also problems finding enough rare metals needed for scaling up solar cell production. Solar cell production is heavily dependent on rare metals, enough so that one could even question their sustainability. Recycling these metals out of used solar cells is likely to be a problem, probably about as easy to solve as recycling silver catalyst out of used plastics.
Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 1159 Location: western Wisconsin
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject: Re: EROEI of solar PV cells
More evidence that reducing energy consumption of all types is the real solution.
By the way, our 25 year old PV panels are still working fine, and I expect them to function for decades more. Current PVs seem to be sealed better (between glass and frames, for example) and should last longer yet.
Last edited by WisJim on Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:26 am; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:00 pm Post subject: Re: EROEI of solar PV cells
I've read about a decade, but YMMV. Most people dislike them because they represent a large initial investment and they don't have the means/skill to take the hardware with them if they need/want to move, however they are a lot cheaper over their likely lifetime compared to paying for the same amount of electricity. _________________
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