Are Solar Cells “net energy positive”?

The are many people asking if the production of solar cells takes more energy than the cells will ever produce. In other words – are they a net benefit to the energy balance?

Andreas Iliou ,at iliou electric cc

That discussion we had in Germany as well;
A 1m2 panel takes 195kWhrs on energy to make in Munich with 1100kWhrs/m2per year
t = 195kwhrs
—— ——- = 1,3 years Wel= 1100×0,17 = 170kWhrs
145 kWhrs
You can easily see how much years it take to equal O in your area just put in your coordinates.
Another example is 22W cell takes 45 kWhrs manufacture/ it produces in 10 years time 264 kWh
264
—– = 6 means 6 times more energy produced than to manufacture
45
It is a fairytale to say it takes more energy to make as they produce
Another example is an Energymix in Germany coal/hydro/atomic
per kwh produced 0,62 kg CO2 produced  that is with a 3 kW peak system 18 693 kg CO 2 less polluted.
Add that up to million households and that is only in 10 years but there are installed systems producing energy 35 years already so this was a save conclusion- within 10 years time
the whole figures changing in Germany already as manufacturers are already producing wafers with photovoltaic systems installed on their roof that means less energy required to make those panels.

 

Julia Angel-Phillips, Business Development/Marketing Consultant:

The environmental benefits of PV are great. But just as we say that it takes money to make money, it also takes energy to save energy. The term “energy payback” captures this idea. How long does a PV system have to operate to recover the energy—and associated generation of pollution and CO2—that went into making the system, in the first place?Energy payback estimates for both rooftop and ground-mounted PV systems are roughly the same, depending on the technology and type of framing used. Paybacks for multicrystalline modules are 4 years for systems using recent technology and 2 years for anticipated technology.

For thin-film modules, paybacks are 3 years using recent technology, and just 1 year for anticipated thin-film technology. With assumed life expectancies of 30 years, and taking into account the fossil-fuel-based energy used in manufacture, 87% to 97% of the energy that PV systems generate won’t be plagued by pollution, greenhouse gases, and depletion of resources.

Based on models and real data, the idea that PV cannot pay back its energy investment is simply a myth. Indeed, researchers Dones and Frischknecht found that PV-systems fabrication and fossil-fuel energy production have similar energy payback periods (including costs for mining, transportation, refining, and construction).

Al Perry, Qigong Therapist at Qiworks:

The average solar cell takes about a year (1.2 in Northern California) to replace the energy it takes to make it. The manufacture’s warrantee life is 25 years on most panels. The actual life is about 45 years. The math is not too difficult.

The positives have been well documented by other authors here and globally.

7000 time the amount of energy needed worldwide falls to the earth daily.

What we all need to be focusing on is how to collect .014% of that available energy and deliver it to the grid.

Here is a link of the abstract from the US Department of Energy on the researchers Dones and Frischknecht study on PV fabrication.

It answers the question:

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/35489.pdf

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