Does a solar electric (PV) system consume more energy to manufacture than it will produce in its lifetime?
I’ve seen several discussions on blogs regarding the net engergy gain (or loss) of solar systems. Some people claim it’s a net energy loss, but I have a hard time believing that to be true. Can anyone answer with either a credible source or facts that back up their answer? I’ve done a lot of searching and found very little to help me clear up this question. And please don’t mix financial information into this discussion, I’m only interested in the net ENERGY of solar electric (photovoltaic) systems.
It is not simple to answer.
there are several different technologies
and many differnent working environments and load factors.
high-spec NASA pannels, clean room semiconductors, redundancy & destructive testing. and a short hostile life generating little useable power – perhaps the case could be made the are a net energy loss.
organic (dye) photovoltaics, although having lower efficiencies, are much simpler to mass produce, so less net energy input
and in normal use should give ample life to give a positive energy gain. unfortunaly still very much at development stage so no easy to read summaries
Solar Power Video Blog Day 1
