Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Floating and Ground-Mounted Utility PV System in Cirata, Indonesia

Utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems can be in-stalled with a ground-mounted system or with a floating system on water, such as on a lake or reservoir. This study analyzed the life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 145 MWac floating PV system at the Cirata Reservoir in West Java, Indonesia. The PV modules used were bifacial modules manufactured by Jinko Solar, with monocrystalline silicon. Thirteen major components were used to build the floating PV system at the Cirata Reservoir. After the construction process was completed, the PV system had a lifetime of 25 years and was projected to generate 7,005,878,243 kWh of electricity, according to the PVsyst simulation. All PV system components will be managed at a designated disposal facility at the end of their lifecycle. The LCA was modeled using openLCA with the characterization models ReCiPe (H) midpoint and ReCiPe (H, A) endpoint. An analysis for the same system specification with a ground-mounted system was also conducted, with the system simulated to be located near the existing floating PV system. As a result, the environmental impact for the floating PV system showed a value of 42.0537 g C02 eq/kWh for global warming potential (GWPI00). Meanwhile, the ground-mounted PV system with the same specifications resulted in a 41.8915 g C02 eq/kWh value. Thus, the floating PV system presents a higher global warming potential than the ground-mounted PV system. The total endpoint environmental impact for the floating PV system was 0.004132 points, while for the ground-mounted PV system, it was 0.004113 points. Therefore, the floating PV system also has a greater endpoint environmental impact compared to the ground-mounted PV system.