Life-cycle assessments of solar water-heating systems: a review

Abstract

This research study reviews life-cycle assessments (LCAs) of solar water-heating systems (SWHS) and provides a complete overview of its progress. Several research papers have confirmed the advantages of SWHS in energy saving and environmental protection, but the reported system performances varied greatly, due to climate, raw materials and the systematic design. The environmental impacts are mainly caused by the manufacturing and acquisition of raw materials, whose values vary depending on the forms of the system and the materials. The users also have great influence on the performance, but there are few studies regarding this and optimisation should be made accordingly. LCAs highly depend on the implication background, including the energy structure and industrial production technologies. Whether to choose solar energy or not needs life-cycle analysis according to local conditions.