On the life cycle of solar power plants

Abstract

The solar power engineering development trends show that the commissioning of solar power plant facilities is continuously increasing. To evaluate the operational efficiency of solar power plants, the paper suggests conducting a review of their life cycles with regard to power engineering and environmental safety. It has been established that, despite some undoubted environmental advantages of such power plants, when solar energy is converted into the electrical one, there is a problem of solar modules recycling as this technology entails extra pollutant emissions. This fact needs to be further studied in the course of the solar power plant life cycles evaluation.