Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions
Summary: Although photovoltaic (PV) power is widely viewed as a zero-carbon solution, its upstream module production remains highly carbon-intensive. Existing studies often fail to capture supply chain heterogeneity and spatial differences in production, limiting assessments of the sector’s low-carb...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-08-01
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| Series: | iScience |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225013409 |
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| author | Ziyi Li Xiaofan Wang Kexin Hu Ruoxi Ao Junyan Li Yulong Yan Sheng Zhang Menggang Li Lin Peng Kechang Xie Junjie Li |
| author_facet | Ziyi Li Xiaofan Wang Kexin Hu Ruoxi Ao Junyan Li Yulong Yan Sheng Zhang Menggang Li Lin Peng Kechang Xie Junjie Li |
| author_sort | Ziyi Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Although photovoltaic (PV) power is widely viewed as a zero-carbon solution, its upstream module production remains highly carbon-intensive. Existing studies often fail to capture supply chain heterogeneity and spatial differences in production, limiting assessments of the sector’s low-carbon transition. This study conducted a carbon footprint analysis of monocrystalline modules manufactured in China from 2008 to 2023, incorporating refined data for supplier-specific configurations and province-level electricity carbon intensity. Results showed that production-side carbon footprints fell from 2.01–3.24 kg CO2-eq/Wp to 0.31–0.39 kg CO2-eq/Wp, with module encapsulation becoming the major contributor. Global large-scale PV deployment drove the consumption-side footprint to increase 35-fold to 112.25 Mt CO2-eq in 2023, with two-thirds being exported. This implies that the electricity decarbonization in other countries comes at the cost of increased carbon emissions in China. Future should use industrial layout transfer, green materials supply, and process innovation to decarbonize China’s monocrystalline modules substantially. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d8f17bc40b014e4592c42f8717296f41 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj-art-d8f17bc40b014e4592c42f8717296f412025-08-20T03:08:17ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422025-08-0128811307910.1016/j.isci.2025.113079Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributionsZiyi Li0Xiaofan Wang1Kexin Hu2Ruoxi Ao3Junyan Li4Yulong Yan5Sheng Zhang6Menggang Li7Lin Peng8Kechang Xie9Junjie Li10Engineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China; Corresponding authorEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaBeijing Laboratory of National Economic Security Early-warning Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, ChinaChinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing 100088, ChinaEngineering Research Center of Clean and Low-carbon Technology for Intelligent Transportation, Ministry of Education, School of Environment, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China; Beijing Laboratory of National Economic Security Early-warning Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China; Corresponding authorSummary: Although photovoltaic (PV) power is widely viewed as a zero-carbon solution, its upstream module production remains highly carbon-intensive. Existing studies often fail to capture supply chain heterogeneity and spatial differences in production, limiting assessments of the sector’s low-carbon transition. This study conducted a carbon footprint analysis of monocrystalline modules manufactured in China from 2008 to 2023, incorporating refined data for supplier-specific configurations and province-level electricity carbon intensity. Results showed that production-side carbon footprints fell from 2.01–3.24 kg CO2-eq/Wp to 0.31–0.39 kg CO2-eq/Wp, with module encapsulation becoming the major contributor. Global large-scale PV deployment drove the consumption-side footprint to increase 35-fold to 112.25 Mt CO2-eq in 2023, with two-thirds being exported. This implies that the electricity decarbonization in other countries comes at the cost of increased carbon emissions in China. Future should use industrial layout transfer, green materials supply, and process innovation to decarbonize China’s monocrystalline modules substantially.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225013409Environmental scienceEnergy sustainabilityEnergy systems |
| spellingShingle | Ziyi Li Xiaofan Wang Kexin Hu Ruoxi Ao Junyan Li Yulong Yan Sheng Zhang Menggang Li Lin Peng Kechang Xie Junjie Li Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions iScience Environmental science Energy sustainability Energy systems |
| title | Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions |
| title_full | Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions |
| title_fullStr | Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions |
| title_short | Low-carbon transition of China’s monocrystalline module and its global contributions |
| title_sort | low carbon transition of china s monocrystalline module and its global contributions |
| topic | Environmental science Energy sustainability Energy systems |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225013409 |
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