Task 12:
PV Environmental Health And Safety
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Last updated: 12 September 2007 |
The growth of the PV market is based on the promise of environmentally friendly
energy generation, and is sustained by the support of the environmentally conscious
public via market incentives, direct subsidies and R&D support. Without such
support the industry can not grow to levels that would enable the reduction
of direct (production and installation) costs to the levels of conventional
energy generation. Furthermore, continuing diligence on EH&S issues is necessary
to safeguard the environment, which is the promise of photovoltaics.
This Task 12, with a length of 5 years (2007-2011) aims in fostering international
collaboration in the areas of safety and sustainability which are crucial for
allowing PV to grow to levels enabling a major contribution in the needs of
the member countries and the world. They are both technical and perception issues
that need be addressed.
The goal of Task 12 is to facilitate a common understanding
of EH&S issues among the various country-members, and disseminate the task-group's
knowledge and understanding to the stake holders and to the energy- and environmental
policy decision makers.
- The overall objectives of Task 12 are to: Quantify the environmental profile
of PV in comparison to other energy technologies;
- Define and address EH&S and sustainability issues that are important for
market growth;
The first objective of this task can be served with life cycle analysis
(LCA) that describes energy, material and emission flows in all the stages
of the life of PV. The second objective will be addressed with assisting the
collective action of PV companies on defining material availability and product
recycling issues and on communicating "lessons learned" from incidents or
potential incidents in PV production facilities. The third objective (i.e.,
dissemination) will be accomplished by presentations to broad audiences, producing
simple fact sheets documented by comprehensive reports, and engaging industry
associations and the media in the dissemination of the information.
The Task
12 is divided in the following 4 Subtasks:
Subtask 1 Recycling of Manufacturing Waste and Spent Modules
This subtask addresses the following objectives:
- Assist the development
of collection infrastructure by examining and evaluating the collection infrastructure
of other recyclables (e.g., electronics, liquid crystal displays)
- Enhance the interaction among industry players so that they share information
and resources for collection and recycling
- Show the technical and cost feasibility of collection and recycling (to
environmental-policy makers, e.g., WEEE, RoHS)
- Identify common tasks where financial resources can be shared (e.g., separation
of EVA from the module).
Subtask 2 Life Cycle Assessment
This subtask aims the next targets:
- Establish and demonstrate, with comprehensive and transparent studies over
the full life cycle, that PV systems are environmentally friendly compared
to other energy systems.
- Show the improvement trends of the PV environmental profile by certain indicators
(e.g., EPBT, GHG emissions, waste reduction, materials' recycling/recovery).
- Continue showing such progress in annual updates over the course of Task
12 (5 years).
- Valuate the environmental benefits of PV by showing avoided impacts or avoided
"external" costs.
Subtask 3 EH&S in Manufacturing Facilities
The main objectives within this
subtask are:
- Develop risk factors and compare with other energy technologies
- Identify accident prevention and control options for specific technologies
- Identify pollution control technologies for major types of PV manufacturing
facilities
- Identify prevention and control strategies for green-house gases
(GHG) in PV manufacturing facilities
Subtask 4 EHS Information Dissemination
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Information
For further information on Task 11 or to inquire about participation in the Task
please contact the managers of this PVPS activity, the Operating Agents:
- Dr. Vasilis Fthenakis
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory/ Bldg. 475B
Upton, NY 11973
USA
Tel: +12128548885
E-mail: fthenakis@bnl.gov
-
Mr. Daniel Fraile Montoro
European Photovoltaic Industry Association
Rue d'Arlon 63-66
Brussels 1040
Belgium
Tel: +3224653884
Fax: +3224001010
E-mail: pol@epia.org
You can also contact your national
representative for Task 12. Currently, the following IEA PVPS countries
are participating in Task 12:
Austria, Germany,
Norway, The Netherlands, Switzerland and USA. EPIA also participates in this Task.
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