%0 Journal Article
%T Carbon and Water Footprint Evaluation of 120Wp Rural Household Photovoltaic System: Case Study
%A Alberto Tama
%A Diego Vicente
%J Smart Grid and Renewable Energy
%P 31-59
%@ 2151-4844
%D 2023
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/sgre.2023.143003
%X This study uses the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to evaluate the magnitude
of the environmental impact, in terms of global warming potential, and water
footprint throughout the 20 years of useful life of a rural electrical energy
concession comprised of 120Wp Households photovoltaic systems (HPS) in the
isolated communities of San Martin, in the Peruvian Amazon region. On the other
hand, due to the particular conditions of the system (installation, operation,
maintenance, monthly tariff collection), it is necessary to know its real
impact and sustainability; not only through the aforementioned environmental
impact indicators, but also by energy intensity values required by the system
throughout its life cycle. Therefore, this paper used the Cumulative energy
demand (CED) method to determine the amount of energy taken from natural
resources for each process involved in the LCA and calculated with this, i.e., the Energy Payback Time (EPBT) of
the whole system. Likewise, the HPS has been environmentally compared to other
case studies and the Peruvian Energy Mix, revealing a lower impact in the
latter case and results within the range for stand-alone systems. Besides, the
HPS shows a strong relation between energy production and O&M condition.
Additionally, this study allows a further promotion of the use of this type of
system in isolated areas, as well as the diversification of electricity
generation in Peru.
%K Life Cycle Analysis
%K Carbon Footprint
%K Water Footprint
%K Solar Home System
%K Life Cycle Inventory
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=124605