The Carbon Footprint of a solar panel
Page 1: Energy used in the sourcing of materials for Genersys solar panels
by Genersys Plc
Last updated: Monday, 02 April 2007
Summary
Materials used, and where they are sourced from, contribute to the carbon footprint of any manufactured part.
The logistics and transport and handling of these materials must all be considered when calculating an exact carbon footprint of anything from a cell phone to a solar panel.
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Materials used:
Each Genersys solar panel is made from aluminium, copper, glass and insulation.
The precise carbon footprint varies according to the source of the raw materials and the processing plants that turn the raw materials into finished material appropriate for manufacturing into solar panels.
Some aluminium processing plants use energy produced by coal or oil; others use hydro electricity or nuclear power. The same applies to glass and copper.
Each source leaves a different carbon footprint so in our figures we have used average carbon emissions over the whole of each industry:-
- Aluminium: We use aluminium for the panel trays and for the profiles which make up the frames. We calculate the aluminium we use in our solar panel and frame needs 442.6 kWh of energy to produce it.
- Copper: We use copper for the meandering heat pipe and for the sensor pockets. We calculate the copper we use needs 108.4 kWh of energy to produce it.
- Glass: We use special glass and this makes up most of the weight of each panel. The production of this glass uses around 100.9 kWh of energy.
- Insulation: This uses around 19.4 kWh for each panel.
- Selective Coating: our own specifically made selective coating needs around 45 kWh of energy to make it.
- Additional material: we calculate that additional material uses 6.8 kWh of energy.
The total energy involved
in sourcing and production of these materials: 723.1 kWh |
Now that we have established this figure we need to look at the energy used in the manufacturing process of our solar panels. When we combine these two figures we can calculate the carbon emissions involved in the production, from raw materials to finished product.
Click to continue to page 2/4: Minimising the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process
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