CAREER: CAS-Climate: Sustainable Design Principles for Emerging Photovoltaics

该项目的总体目标是确定最具环境可持续性和经济可行性的方案，为能源市场准备新兴的光伏(EPV)技术，使之成为真正可持续的太阳能技术。为实现这一目标，将在三个目标内协同整合与研究和教育有关的任务：(1)确定基于循环寿命终结(EoL)选择的可持续环境PVs设计原则，并利用EoL相关概念推进可持续性教育；(2)分析EoL的使用和EoL相关阶段的环境影响和成本问题，推进南达科他州高等教育中的太阳能教育；(3)评估新颖应用EoL的环境经济模型，创建决策支持工具(EPV-LIFE工具)，并通过举办讲习班传播研究成果。考虑到EPV可以为太阳能行业创造一个重要的市场，EPV的环境经济模型及其新颖的应用对于让光伏利益相关者了解环境、经济和社会可持续太阳能的途径至关重要。因此，该项目的社会效益包括抵消温室气体排放的方法和促进EPV技术的有效教育机制。研究人员将在该技术仍处于部分研发阶段时，遵循翻新、再制造和回收(Triple-r)的原则设计EPV架构。Triple-R的设计重点是确定允许环境友好且经济可行的EoL管理方案的设备架构。调查员将评估由于灾难性事件和/或损坏或处置不当而导致的EPV使用和EoL阶段的生命周期毒性影响。因此，将更好地了解安装在铺面(即屋顶)和未铺面(即地面安装)表面的光伏项目的使用阶段相关环境影响以及与不当倾倒有关的长期影响，并可以制定防止这种情况发生的战略。研究人员将使用标准化电力成本(LCOE)指标设计电动汽车整个生命周期中涉及的所有流程，明确侧重于评估将电动汽车的电力净成本降至最低的三重R选项的净成本。将EoL集成到LCOE指标将允许使用闭环方法全面开发EPV。所有涉及电动汽车整个生命周期的流程及其新的应用领域都将采用本项目中分析的环境经济权衡来设计。主要重点将是评估在城市/郊区部署中使用的双面系统，以及在农村/偏远应用中使用的EPV耦合电池系统。该项目的研究和教育目标是通过关注五个更广泛的影响活动来整合的：1)培养研究生和本科生，2)与青年与艾滋病密切合作；家庭服务向南达科他州西部的K-12学生，包括来自服务不足、经济困难和代表性不足的少数族裔(例如，印第安人)的学生提供服务，3)与拉皮特市的可持续发展委员会合作，推广可持续的太阳能，并让他们了解住宅太阳能部署的好处，4)与太阳能行业和研究中心合作，加强研究和教育的基础设施，5)通过同行评议的出版物、国内和国际演示以及EPV-Life工具向更广泛的社区传播研究成果，该项目由ENG/CBET环境可持续发展项目和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The overarching goal of this project is to identify the most environmentally sustainable and economically feasible schemes to prepare emerging photovoltaic (EPV) technologies for the energy market as truly sustainable solar technology. This goal will be pursued by synergistically integrating research and education-associated tasks within three objectives: (1) identifying sustainable design principles for EPVs based on circular end-of-life (EoL) options and advancing sustainability education with EoL-related concepts; (2) analyzing the use and EoL phase-related environmental impacts and cost dimension of EPVs and advancing solar energy education in higher education in South Dakota, and; (3) assessing enviro-economic models for novel application of EPVs, creating decision support tools (EPV-Life tool), and disseminating the research results by offering workshops. Considering that EPVs can create an important market for the solar energy industry, enviro-economic models of EPVs and their novel applications are essential to inform PV stakeholders regarding the pathways for environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable solar energy. As a result, the societal benefits of this project include methods for offsetting greenhouse gases and facilitating an effective education mechanism for EPVs technology.The investigator will design the EPV architectures following refurbish, remanufacture, and recycle (triple-r) principles while this technology is still partially in the R&D stage. The focal point of design for triple-r is to determine device architecture that allows environmentally friendly and economically feasible EoL management schemes. The investigator will assess the life cycle toxic impacts from the use and EoL phase of EPVs due to a catastrophic event and/or breakage or improper disposal. As a result, the use phase-related environmental impacts of PV projects installed on paved (i.e., rooftops) and unpaved (i.e., ground-mounted) surfaces and long-term impacts related to improper dumping will be better understood, and strategies to prevent these from happening can be formulated. The investigator will design all processes involved in the entire life cycle of EPVs using the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) metric, with explicit focus on assessing the net cost of triple-r options that minimize the net cost of electricity from EPVs. Integration of EoL to the LCOE metric will allow for comprehensive development of EPVs with a closed-loop approach. All processes involved in the entire life cycle of EPVs and their novel application fields will be designed using enviro-economic tradeoffs analyzed in this project. A primary focus will be on assessing bifacial systems used in urban/ sub-urban deployment and EPV coupled battery systems in rural/remote applications. The research and educational goals of this project are integrated by focusing on five broader impacts activities: 1) Training graduate and undergraduate students, 2) working closely with Youth & Family Services to outreach to K-12 students, including minority students from the underserved, economically disadvantaged, and underrepresented (e.g., Native American) in western South Dakota, 3) working with Rapid City’s Sustainability Committee to outreach local communities to promote sustainable solar energy and inform them about residential solar deployment’s benefits, 4) partnering with the solar industry and research centers to enhance the infrastructure for research and education, and 5) disseminating research results broader communities with peer-reviewed publications, national and international presentations, and EPV- Life tool, and the team’s Twitter account and YouTube videos.This project is jointly funded by the ENG/CBET Environmental Sustainability program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.