Critical Review of Perovskite Photovoltaic Life Cycle Environmental Impact Studies

Abstract

This paper investigates the most commonly proposed organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite solar cell (PSC) architectures in terms of their potential life-cycle environmental impacts. We critically review the validity of assumptions and the results of previously published studies. As great challenges remain in scaling up devices from laboratory scale to large-area module manufacturing, we focus this investigation on materials and processes that have a good scalability potential and minimum possible environmental footprints. Thus, we calculate and compare PSC prospective environmental life-cycle impacts in terms of global warming potential (GWP) and acidification potential (AP) while assessing the scalability of associated manufacturing processes.