Life cycle assessment of large-scale solar photovoltaic irrigation

In the last years, concerns about climate change have led to the search for cleaner and cheaper energy sources. For some years now, photovoltaic solar energy has been implemented in small pumping installations, with low peak installed power systems. However, irrigation districts with high pumping power are currently using this kind of energy thanks to large solar plants. Although these large solar plants do not have a significant environmental impact during their operational phase, their environmental impact becomes evident during the manufacturing of their components and construction. In this work, the life cycle assessment (LCA) of a large solar photovoltaic plant of 6 MWp of an irrigation district, located in southern Spain, has been carried out. From the analysis of the data provided, energy payback time (EPBT) between 3.51 and 3.81 years, and carbon payback time (CPBT) between 3.39 and 3.67 years were determined. The influence on the reduction of environmental impact was also analysed revealing that even with partial energy consumption from the grid, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and fossil fuel energy consumption have been reduced by nearly 50 %. [Display omitted] •Life cycle assessment was used to evaluate a large PV system in an irrigation district.•All PV energy generated was utilized since the surplus energy was fed into the grid.•PV system allowed savings around 50 % of primary energy and 46 % of greenhouse gases.•Even with 50 % renewables in the grid mix, PV system is still environmentally viable.