Illuminating sustainability: A comprehensive review of the environmental life cycle and exergetic impacts of solar systems on the agri-food sector

Bahareh Hamidinasab, Hossein Javadikia*, Fatemeh Hosseini-Fashami, Hamed Kouchaki-Penchah, Ashkan Nabavi-Pelesaraei*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReviewpeer-review

Abstract

The developing agri-food sector significantly boosts food production and plays a crucial role in resolving the global food crisis. This development is valuable when accompanied by environmental sustainability. The indiscriminate use of fossil energy sources in these industries has raised serious environmental concerns in recent years. As a result, researchers have explored the substitution of renewable energies, particularly solar energy, as a means of resource conservation. However, concerns about the environmental effects of solar technology establishment have prompted investigations into their environmental footprints. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has emerged as a valuable tool for systematically evaluating the potential environmental impacts of solar energy. Furthermore, combining LCA with exergetic analysis as the main tool for assessing energy utilization can help identify the most sustainable scenarios. In this context, the present study provides a systematic and comprehensive review and critical discussion of the environmental LCA and exergetic analysis of applied solar technologies in the agri-food sector. The study first introduces all the utilized technologies in detail. It then discusses the principles, steps, and methods of LCA and exergetic analysis employed by researchers. Based on the analysis of 116 considered studies, it is concluded that photovoltaic (PV), photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T), and concentrated solar power systems (CSP) are the leading solar technologies in the agri-food sector. The study further concludes that PV systems are the most exergoenvironmentally friendly among all solar systems, while the CSP system exhibits favorable characteristics compared to PV/T, particularly from the perspective of LCA.
Original languageEnglish
Article number111830
JournalSolar Energy
Volume262
Number of pages35
ISSN0038-092X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Agricultural system
  • Environmental assessment
  • Food
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Photovoltaic

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Illuminating sustainability: A comprehensive review of the environmental life cycle and exergetic impacts of solar systems on the agri-food sector'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this