Guiding encapsulant choice in perovskite solar cells with LCA: climate change footprints, break-even lifetimes and recycling perspective

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Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have demonstrated the potential for reducing environmental impacts of photovoltaic-generated electricity. However, like other solar cells, PSCs require encapsulation to withstand outdoor conditions. Environmental impact of encapsulation is insufficiently discussed during the design stages, while encapsulants may significantly contribute to the overall impact. Present study fills this gap by providing comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of cells encapsulated with various polymers. Using end-of-life perspective during discussion, present LCA guides the final material choice. According to the LCA cells encapsulated with polyolefin elastomer exhibited lowest environmental impact related to manufacturing (24.7 kg CO 2 eq./m 2 ). Thermoplastic polyurethane had the highest impact (27.4 kg CO 2 eq./m 2 ), contributing significantly to the overall footprint of the PSC. This high contribution undermines the viability of sacrificing TPU to recycle PSCs. Furthermore, lifetime and performance of the modelled PSCs were found to be the crucial parameters for the final choice of the encapsulant. Scenario modelling revealed that if the encapsulated cells could operate for six years, the total life-cycle Climate Change impacts would break even with those of traditional solar panels. Accordingly, combination of present LCA results with future rigorous comparison of lifetime performance of encapsulated PSCs should guide the final material choice