How Sustainable is PV Solar Power? An Intro to Life Cycle Analysis and Planetary Boundaries

If you search “solar photovoltaic sustainability” on the internet, you will find a multitude of articles hailing the technology as green, clean and ready to spearhead our world into a sustainable future. However, you will also come across articles that are much more critical of the technology. This begs the question, “How does one go about accessing the environmental impacts of a technology in a systematic, objective way?” We answer this question using PV solar power as a case study.

In this course, we study an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) of solar photovoltaic power and learn of its impacts on human health, freshwater, climate change, ecosystems and land use. We compare the environmental performance of solar PV to other renewable and non-renewable electricity generation technologies. Finally, we take an in-depth look at a scientific article in which researchers show how countries can determine their optimal energy mix given their available resources and environmental objectives.

Time: 4-hour self-paced course. Access this course online 24/7 for up to 2 years.
Location: Online – Register anytime and gain immediate access

Click here for more information and to register.