The increasing occurrence of extreme weather events driven by climate change, particularly hailstorms, poses growing risks to the resilience and long-term performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems. This study assesses the environmental impacts of a 12 kWp rooftop PV installation through a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of three configurations: a standard system, one equipped with a retractable hail protection panel, and another with additional protective glass. The analysis adopts a cradle-to-gate system boundary, applies the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method, and uses 1 kWh of electricity generated as the functional unit. To integrate temporal and risk-related aspects, the LCA is combined with the Social Discount Rate (SDR) method. Different SDR values are assigned to reflect system vulnerability: a higher SDR for the standard system, due to its greater exposure to hail damage, and lower SDRs for the protected systems, reflecting their improved resilience. This approach captures both the time dimensions–by discounting future impacts–and the risk dimension–by linking discount rates to system reliability. Results show that while hail-protected systems exhibit a higher Global Warming Potential due to increased material requirements, the SDR-based assessment highlights their superior long-term environmental performance in hail-prone regions. The integrated use of LCA and SDR thus offers a more comprehensive, risk-informed framework for the sustainable design of PV systems under climate uncertainty.
Combined Life Cycle Assessment and Social Discount Rate Approach for Assessing Risk and Temporal Dimensions in Hail-Exposed Photovoltaics Systems
E. BertagnaData Curation
;B. Marchi
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;L. E. ZavanellaWriting – Review & Editing
2025-01-01
Abstract
The increasing occurrence of extreme weather events driven by climate change, particularly hailstorms, poses growing risks to the resilience and long-term performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems. This study assesses the environmental impacts of a 12 kWp rooftop PV installation through a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of three configurations: a standard system, one equipped with a retractable hail protection panel, and another with additional protective glass. The analysis adopts a cradle-to-gate system boundary, applies the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method, and uses 1 kWh of electricity generated as the functional unit. To integrate temporal and risk-related aspects, the LCA is combined with the Social Discount Rate (SDR) method. Different SDR values are assigned to reflect system vulnerability: a higher SDR for the standard system, due to its greater exposure to hail damage, and lower SDRs for the protected systems, reflecting their improved resilience. This approach captures both the time dimensions–by discounting future impacts–and the risk dimension–by linking discount rates to system reliability. Results show that while hail-protected systems exhibit a higher Global Warming Potential due to increased material requirements, the SDR-based assessment highlights their superior long-term environmental performance in hail-prone regions. The integrated use of LCA and SDR thus offers a more comprehensive, risk-informed framework for the sustainable design of PV systems under climate uncertainty.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
