A comparative life cycle analysis of low power PV lighting products for rural areas in South East Asia

This paper evaluates the environmental effects of low power PV lighting products, which are increasingly used in rural areas in South East Asia, by means of a life cycle analysis (LCA). The main goals of the project are to determine (1) the environmental impacts, (2) which parts are contributing to environmental impacts that occur, and (3) the accuracy of an LCA of these PV products. The study is based on an entrepreneurial case in Cambodia. Three PV lighting products with a nominal power of 0.7 Wp, 4.5 Wp and 40 Wp respectively, have been compared with three alternatives for lighting services. The LCA was executed with Simapro software using the Ecoinvent 2.1 database and applying the ReCiPe 2008 method for the impact assessment. An important conclusion of the study is that solar PV lighting products have less environmental impact than conventional lighting solutions, such as lighting services from kerosene lamps and compact fluorescent lamps powered by car batteries. The environmental profile of small size PV lighting products can be improved by approximately 50% by recycling of the batteries. From an evaluation of the accuracy of an LCA of PV lighting products, it can be concluded that impacts of these PV lighting products are lower or comparable to those of lighting by compact fluorescent lights powered by electricity from the grid in the South East Asian context. As such, they offer an environmentally beneficial lighting service for off-grid households

Economic and Environmental Performances of Small-Scale Rural PV Solar Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism: The Case of Cambodia

The two core objectives of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are cost-effective emission reduction and sustainable development. Despite the potential to contribute to both objectives, solar projects play a negligible role under the CDM. In this research, the greenhouse gas mitigation cost is used to evaluate the economic and environmental performances of small-scale rural photovoltaic solar projects. In particular, we compare the use of absolute and relative mitigation costs to evaluate the attractiveness of these projects under the CDM. We encourage the use of relative mitigation costs, implying consideration of baseline costs that render the projects profitable. Results of the mitigation cost analysis are dependent on the baseline chosen. To overcome this drawback, we complement the analysis with a multi-objective optimization approach, which allows quantifying the trade-off between economic and environmental performances of the optimal technologies without requiring a baseline

Economic and environmental performances of small-scale rural PV solar projects under the clean development mechanism : the case of Cambodia

The two core objectives of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are cost-effective emission reduction and sustainable development. Despite the potential to contribute to both objectives, solar projects play a negligible role under the CDM. In this research, the greenhouse gas mitigation cost is used to evaluate the economic and environmental performances of small-scale rural photovoltaic solar projects. In particular, we compare the use of absolute and relative mitigation costs to evaluate the attractiveness of these projects under the CDM. We encourage the use of relative mitigation costs, implying consideration of baseline costs that render the projects profitable. Results of the mitigation cost analysis are dependent on the baseline chosen. To overcome this drawback, we complement the analysis with a multi-objective optimization approach, which allows quantifying the trade-off between economic and environmental performances of the optimal technologies without requiring a baseline