The photovoltaic (PV) sector has undergone both major expansion and evolution over the
last decades, and currently, the technologies already marketed or still in the laboratory/research phase
are numerous and very different. Likewise, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts
of these devices, life cycle assessment (LCA) studies related to these systems are always increasing.
The objective of this paper is to summarize and update the current literature of LCA applied to
different types of grid-connected PV, as well as to critically analyze the results related to energy
and environmental impacts generated during the life cycle of PV technologies, from 1st generation
(traditional silicon based) up to the third generation (innovative non-silicon based). Most of the
results regarded energy indices like energy payback time, cumulative energy demand, and primary
energy demand, while environmental indices were variable based on different scopes and impact
assessment methods. Moreover, the review work allowed to highlight and compare key parameters
(PV type and system, geographical location, efficiency), methodological insights (functional unit,
system boundaries, etc.), and energy/environmental hotspots of 39 LCA studies relating to different
PV systems, in order to underline the importance of these aspects, and to provide information and a
basis of comparison for future analyse
