Na WC  Kim Y  Kim KN  Lee KY

Vol. 20,  No. 4, pp. 449-456, Dec.  2014

Water footprint Crystalline silicon PV system Life cycle assessment Water consumption Power generation

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There has been increasing concerns for the problems of water security in countries, caused by the frequent occurrence of localized drought due to the climate change and uncertainty of water balance. The importance of fresh water is emphasized as considerable amount of usable fresh water is utilized for power generation sector producing electricity. PV power system, the source of renewable energy, consumes water for the every steps of life cycle: manufacturing, installation, and operation. However, it uses relatively less water than the traditional energy sources such as thermal power and nuclear power sources. In this study, to find out the use of water for the entire process of PV power system from extracting raw materials to operating the system, the footprint of water in the whole process is measured to be analyzed. Measuring the result, the PV water footprint of value chain was 0.989 m3/MWh and the water footprint appeared higher specially in poly-Si and solar cell process. The following two reasons explain it: poly-Si process is energy-intensive process and it consumes lots of cooling water. In solar cell process, deionized water is used considerably for washing a high-efficiency crystalline silicon. It is identified that PV system is the source using less water than traditional ones, which has a critical value in saving water. In discussing the future energy policy, it is vital to introduce the concept of water footprint as a supplementary value of renewable energy.