Environmental impact assessment of grid connected photovoltaic plants with and without two-axes tracking systems

Photovoltaics are called to play a fundamental role in the embedded generation of electricity from renewable sources. The continuous development and advances in the PV sector facilitate new solutions for the solar radiation conversion, giving rise to less costly production rates. In some countries, Spain for instance, the use oftwo axes tracking systems has been widely implemented, but the reduction of PV modules cost makes the economic advantage of these tracking systems not so evident. This has aroused the interest ofanalysing them, not only from an economic, but also from an functional (efficiency or energy performance) and environmental point ofview. In this paper, a Life cycle analysis of these two types of installations (with and without solar tracking) in the same geographic location is presented. This methodology, based on recognized international standards, provides the best framework for assessing the most relevant factors in the product environmental impacts and gives relevant information for further product improvements. The results also allow the calculation of the Energy and Environmental Payback time ofboth configurations.