A life Cycle Cost Analysis and Environmental Assessment on the Photovoltaic System in Buildings: Two Case Studies in Iran

The most important and abundant renewable energy in the world is solar energy which is going to be used increasingly. Life cycle assessment approach help us to analyze new and renewable technologies and quantify the impacts on the environment. The results of the studies show that 80% of the embodied energy is related to the manufacturing processes in producing the photovoltaic (PV) panels. Energy efficiency, location of the production phase, installation, building integration facilities and climate affect the performance of PV technology through its life cycle. In this paper we used a multi-dimensional assessment model including environmental impact assessment and cost analysis for a building integrated PV (BIPV) system. This BIPV system which can provide the whole required electricity for a single family house in two cities of Iran with different climatic conditions (Tehran and BandarAbbas) has been evaluated. The results in life cycle cost analysis on PV system showed that the payback period time is highly dependent on the maintenance costs of PV system especially while current energy generating plants provide low cost energy which are based on the fossil fuel resources in Iran. According to the calculations the payback period time of PV system is longer than technical life span of them by considering current electricity tariffs and initial costs; therefore, more governmental investment and subsidies are needed. Besides the environmental assessment of PV system, a comparison by fossil fuel based systems has been carried out in terms of environmental impact categories.