Fact Sheets

A large part of the value of PV systems is created locally, regardless of where the cells have been made and modules have been assembled. This economic value is over and above the other benefits PV brings to the European consumer and to the continent as a whole, most notably reduction/substition of energy imports, environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

Job creation is one of the most important drivers of economic growth and it has a direct impact on all citizens. As with all industrial activities and energy services, the photovoltaic sector needs human resources to produce, build, operate and finally recycle PV systems.

Fresh water management will be one of the challenges of the 21st century. The photovoltaic (PV) industry as a developing source of energy takes into account this duty and minimizes the use of water over the whole life cycle. When measuring the environmental impact of a product, it is important to take into account the direct and indirect impacts throughout the entire product life-cycle.

PV panels can be installed on homes (residential), on large commercial/industrial rooftops and they can be ground-mounted. A rough estimate shows that the share of the ground-mounted segment is usually below 20% in all larger markets. Ground-mounted solar power plants, or ‘solar parks’, have contributed considerably to bringing the costs of solar PV down. They currently reach costs levels of biogas and offshore-wind generation and are expected to be the most affordable clean energy source in the mid-term.

The energy payback time (EPBT) of photovoltaic (PV) systems is an important criterion in understanding the sustainability of PV. The EPBT is the amount of time a PV system has to operate in order to compensate for the energy required to fabricate the system itself. quantitative methodology known as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is used when calculating the EPBT.

Photovoltaic (PV) systems have a very low carbon footprint with no CO2 emissions during operation, providing significant environmental benefits compared to traditional fossil-fuel or nuclear technologies. PV is therefore one of the most obvious sources of electricity when considering the development of a low carbon economy.