Greenhouse gas mitigation potential of solar photovoltaics: a highly variable indicator within the European Union
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Energy and Construction Engineering, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden
- 2Sustainable Energy Research Centre, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden
- 3Division of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- 4Engineering and Physics Department, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden
Abstract
Solar photovoltaic (PV) is a key technology for decarbonization. However, these systems cause an environmental impact along their life cycle. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation from PV have been studied on a world level, with a yearly resolution, concluding that there are significant differences in decarbonization depending on where PV systems are deployed. This study explores the life-cycle GHG mitigation potential in the European Union countries with hourly resolution. The life-cycle GHG mitigation potential from PV can vary from 0.6 t CO 2 e kWp −1 in Sweden to 18.6 CO 2 e kWp −1 in Cyprus. Furthermore, a difference between calculating with an hourly and yearly resolution up to 49% is found. Despite this estimation being dependant on future decarbonization scenarios and other limitations, the variation between countries suggest that these results could be used as a decision-making tool to prioritize PV deployment in regions with higher mitigation potential.
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BibTeX
@article{gonzalez2026greenhouse,
title = {{Greenhouse gas mitigation potential of solar photovoltaics: a highly variable indicator within the European Union}},
author = {Santiago Valencia Gonzalez and Joakim Munkhammar and Andreas D. Theocharis and Xingxing Zhang},
journal = {npj Clean Energy},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s44406-026-00032-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s44406-026-00032-w},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Greenhouse gas mitigation potential of solar photovoltaics: a highly variable indicator within the European Union
AU - Santiago Valencia Gonzalez
AU - Joakim Munkhammar
AU - Andreas D. Theocharis
AU - Xingxing Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/03
JO - npj Clean Energy
DO - 10.1038/s44406-026-00032-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s44406-026-00032-w
AB - Solar photovoltaic (PV) is a key technology for decarbonization. However, these systems cause an environmental impact along their life cycle. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation from PV have been studied on a world level, with a yearly resolution, concluding that there are significant differences in decarbonization depending on where PV systems are deployed. This study explores the life-cycle GHG mitigation potential in the European Union countries with hourly resolution. The life-cycle GHG mitigation potential from PV can vary from 0.6 t CO 2 e kWp −1 in Sweden to 18.6 CO 2 e kWp −1 in Cyprus. Furthermore, a difference between calculating with an hourly and yearly resolution up to 49% is found. Despite this estimation being dependant on future decarbonization scenarios and other limitations, the variation between countries suggest that these results could be used as a decision-making tool to prioritize PV deployment in regions with higher mitigation potential.
SN - 3059-2232
ER -