Issue 3, 2024

A prospective ecological risk assessment of high-efficiency III–V/silicon tandem solar cells

Abstract

III–V/Silicon tandem solar cells offer one of the most promising avenues for high-efficiency, high-stability photovoltaics. However, a key concern is the potential environmental release of group III–V elements, especially arsenic. To inform long-term policies on the energy transition and energy security, we develop and implement a framework that fully integrates future PV demand scenarios with dynamic stock, emission, and fate models in a probabilistic ecological risk assessment. We examine three geographical scales: local (including a floating utility-scale PV and waste treatment), regional (city-wide), and continental (Europe). Our probabilistic assessment considers a wide range of possible values for over one hundred uncertain technical, environmental, and regulatory parameters. We find that III–V/silicon PV integration in energy grids at all scales presents low-to-negligible risks to soil and freshwater organisms. Risks are further abated if recycling of III–V materials is considered at the panels' end-of-life.

Graphical abstract: A prospective ecological risk assessment of high-efficiency III–V/silicon tandem solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 11 2023
Accepted
11 1 2024
First published
01 2 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024,26, 540-554

A prospective ecological risk assessment of high-efficiency III–V/silicon tandem solar cells

C. F. Blanco, J. T. K. Quik, M. Hof, A. Fuortes, P. Behrens, S. Cucurachi, W. J. G. M. Peijnenburg, F. Dimroth and M. G. Vijver, Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2024, 26, 540 DOI: 10.1039/D3EM00492A

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