The growth of the PV market is based on the promise of environmentally friendly energy generation, and is sustained by the support of the environmentally conscious public via market incentives, direct subsidies and R&D support. Without such support the industry can not grow to levels that would enable the reduction of direct (production and installation) costs to the levels of conventional energy generation. Furthermore, continuing diligence on EH&S issues is necessary to safeguard the environment, which is the promise of photovoltaics.
This Task 12, with a length of 5 years (2007-2011) aims in fostering international collaboration in the areas of safety and sustainability which are crucial for allowing PV to grow to levels enabling a major contribution in the needs of the member countries and the world. They are both technical and perception issues that need be addressed.
The goal of Task 12 is to facilitate a common understanding of EH&S issues among the various country-members, and disseminate the task-group's knowledge and understanding to the stake holders and to the energy- and environmental policy decision makers.
- The overall objectives of Task 12 are to: Quantify the environmental profile of PV in comparison to other energy technologies;
- Define and address EH&S and sustainability issues that are important for market growth;
The first objective of this task can be served with life cycle analysis (LCA) that describes energy, material and emission flows in all the stages of the life of PV. The second objective will be addressed with assisting the collective action of PV companies on defining material availability and product recycling issues and on communicating "lessons learned" from incidents or potential incidents in PV production facilities. The third objective (i.e., dissemination) will be accomplished by presentations to broad audiences, producing simple fact sheets documented by comprehensive reports, and engaging industry associations and the media in the dissemination of the information.
