Requiring no fuel for generation and negligible material/energy for operation and maintenance, photovoltaic (PV) systems have environmental impacts mostly due to the production of modules and the commissioning of power plants. Thus, extending the service lifetime of these systems from 30 to 40 years through an enhanced lamination process for module production potentially reduces environmental impacts per unit energy generated. Life cycle assessment is employed to evaluate the environmental impacts under scenarios for resource utilizations for the new lamination process, operation and maintenance requirements in the extended service lifetime, and degradation rates of the devised modules. Extending the service lifetime significantly reduces environmental impacts across categories, with a 21–27% reduction in global warming potential on the pessimistic and optimistic ends. At least 20% impact reduction is achieved in most impact categories, even under a pessimistic scenario. Considering uncertainty models in the life cycle inventories, samples are generated for scenarios via Monte Carlo simulation, and with significant improvements with large effects in most environmental impact categories, deterministic impact comparisons are supported by ANOVA and Tukey tests. Production strategies for more durable and reliable PV modules have a significant potential in contributing to global sustainability efforts.

中文翻译：

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评估延长太阳能光伏组件使用寿命的环境效益


光伏（PV）系统不需要发电燃料，运行和维护所需的材料/能源也可以忽略不计，其对环境的影响主要是由于模块的生产和发电厂的调试。因此，通过增强模块生产的层压工艺，将这些系统的使用寿命从 30 年延长至 40 年，可能会减少所产生的单位能源对环境的影响。采用生命周期评估来评估新层压工艺的资源利用、延长使用寿命中的操作和维护要求以及设计模块的退化率等场景下的环境影响。延长使用寿命可显着减少各种环境影响，无论悲观还是乐观，全球变暖潜力均可降低 21-27%。即使在悲观的情况下，大多数影响类别也能实现至少 20% 的影响减少。考虑到生命周期清单中的不确定性模型，通过蒙特卡罗模拟生成情景样本，并且在大多数环境影响类别中具有重大影响的显着改进，ANOVA 和 Tukey 测试支持确定性影响比较。更耐用、更可靠的光伏组件的生产策略在促进全球可持续发展方面具有巨大潜力。