The fact is that even solar power plants have an environmental footprint on a lifecycle basis.
Co2 emissions to produce a solar panel.
The carbon footprint of a solar photovoltaic pv panel the average level of greenhouse gas emissions it is responsible for over its lifetime is about 72 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour of electricity generated gco2e kwh.
A 6 6kw solar system will produce around 10 600 kwh a year which will savearound 10 6 tonnes of co2 emissions per year.
The footprint of solar comes in at 6gco2e kwh and wind is also 4gco2e kwh.
To do this we give the energy a carbon intensity value usually represented as kilograms of co 2 emitted per kilowatt hour generated.
A 6 6kw solar system will produce around 10 600 kwh a year which will save around 10 6 tonnes of co2 emissions per year.
Silicon tetra chloride in solar panel manufacturing to create solar panels silicon is purified into poly silicon.
For instance concentrated solar power csp has a footprint of 20 grams of carbon dioxide co2 per.
Taking into account the two years to pay off the embedded energy in the panel after 25 years a 6 6kw system will have a net saving of around 243 tonnes of co2.
Yes it s true that making solar panels creates carbon dioxide but over the life of a solar installation it produces on average of 30x less co2 than coal power.
Carbon dioxide emissions per therm can be converted to carbon dioxide emissions per thousand cubic feet mcf using the average heat content of natural gas in 2017 10 37 therms mcf eia 2019.
In contrast coal ccs 109g gas ccs 78g hydro 97g and bioenergy 98g have relatively high emissions compared to a global average target for a 2c world of 15gco2e kwh in 2050.
0 0053 metric tons co 2 therm x 10 37 therms mcf 0 0549 metric tons co 2 mcf.
For instance concentrated solar power csp has a footprint of 20 grams of carbon dioxide co2 per.
The fact is that even solar power plants have an environmental footprint on a lifecycle basis.
You can be very confident that aquality solar system well installed will make a huge contribution to loweringfossil fuel co2 emissions.
Analysts also judge the impact of the energy used to make a solar panel by the amount of carbon generated in the production of that energy a number that can vary widely.