Life Cycle Assessment of Power Generation from Solar Energy in Thailand

The aim of this study was to assess the environmental impact of power generation from solar energy in Thailand, by using the 'Life Cycle Assessment' tool at each stage of the process. Solar energy power generation is composed of five main processes: the solar cell array, inverter stations, transformer stations, a control center and substations. The functional unit used for this study was the amount of power used to generate 1 kWh of electricity. Two of the largest and most powerful solar cell power plants in Thailand were studied, one in the Northern Thailand (which generates 90 MW of power) and another in the Central Thailand (which generates 55 MW of solar cell power). The Eco – indicator 99 method was used in the analysis. This study examines the impact upon Human Health, Ecosystem Quality and Resource Depletion. After analyzing the results, it can be shown that the greatest impact was caused by the inverter stations, particularly upon Human Health and Ecosystem Quality. With regards to Human Health, inverter stations were found to have both the negative effect on the respiration of organic and inorganic substances, and were a causal effect of climate change. The Ecosystem Quality impact was an increased exposure to acidification and eutrophication, caused by using electricity to invert the direct current from the solar cells to become alternating current. In contrast to this, the solar cell array was found to have the least impact because this process used water for cleaning solar cells. With regards to Resource Depletion, none of the processes of solar power generation were found to be detrimental.