Page 96 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

Chapter 5 • Sustainable Solar Energy Collection and Storage 91

FIGURE 5.8 Material flows within the circular economy. Adapted from Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards a Circular
Economy – Economics and business rationale for an accelerated transition, Ellen MAcArthur Foundation, 2013.

5.4 Photovoltaic Technology

First generation crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV devices are the dominant product on the
market today, accounting for ∼94% of global PV production [3]. This is the most mature of
the PV technologies, and commercial devices exhibit reasonably high power conversion
efficiencies and good stability. African governments have set ambitious targets for PV
installation. Nigeria aims to install 30 000 MW of PV by 2030, most of this as off-grid
systems. Ghana aims to install 30 000 solar home systems by 2020 and invest $230 million
into solar energy projects, including mini-grids and stand-alone solar PV systems. Other
countries have similarly ambitious targets. The Africa renewable Energy Initiative has a
30 GW target for installed capacity, and solar PV will be a major component of this [26].
The majority of PV panels installed will be c-Si PV from China, with most of the rest coming
from Korea. As production has ramped up in the far East the price of modules has fallen
with economies of scale and technological improvements [3].
Panels have a target lifetime of ∼25 years, so much of the projected installed capacity
will not become waste until this long after their initial installation. However, enormous
quantities of PV will require end-of-life management in the nearer future: early PV and
low quality panels failing before target lifetimes will already be reaching end-of-life. It is