Abstract
This study presents a critical review of the methodologies and datasets used to assess the sustainability of photovoltaic (PV) systems, with a focus on environmental aspects. Its goal is to evaluate the quality of available methods and lifecycle inventories used to perform environmental lifecycle assessments (E-LCA) of PV systems, to identify potential gaps that need to be filled by research and industry with updated primary datasets, or to address the lack of harmonization in the existing methodologies. This activity is essential for enhancing the transparency of environmental burden evaluation, particularly as environmental criteria are increasingly utilized to provide economic incentives and serve as a key factor for industry screening. Furthermore, because of the rapid deployment of novel PV technologies like TOPCon and technical development of all PV system components, currently available lifecycle inventories are in many areas outdated. This study aims to identify key areas where these datasets need to be updated. It is part of the European funded CACTUS project1 , which aims at enhancing the research of solar and photovoltaic technologies adapted to different climatic conditions, as well as providing open source and updated research instruments to assess sustainability of PV in different geographic zones. The review is focused on latest PV market trends for PV, mainly on crystalline silicon (c-Si) based PV systems, often referred to as first-generation PV. The study highlights the importance of having up-to-date inventories, reflecting the current market share of state-of-the-art technologies and trends, while emphasizing the need for regionalization of inventories to account for different components and conditions in various locations. The innovation of the research lies in systematically evaluating both the methodologies and the lifecycle inventories, rather than just the impact results. This approach helps to identify gaps and suggest solutions to cover them. This is relevant as it addresses the necessity to harmonize methods for the sustainability assessment of PV products, especially in a European context where environmental aspects are becoming important criteria to achieve commercial or economic benefits. Our research indicates that there is a need for updated and regionalized inventories, and methodologies to be used by researchers to benchmark the results of their studies, particularly for some PV and balance of system (BOS) components. Furthermore, a holistic environmental hotspot screening will ensure that all relevant aspects are included in the current methodologies used to assess the environmental impact of PV systems. Future steps include incorporating social aspects and providing guidelines on how to include storage in the analysis.