Co-benefit of polycrystalline large-scale photovoltaic power in China

Recognized as an indispensable player in the future electricity supply mix of China, photovoltaic (PV) power has experienced a fast expansion in recent years. Owing to the higher cost compared with traditional coal-fired power, financial subsidy is crucial for the development of PV power. Although a series of policies have been implemented to subsidize PV power, strong and steady policies to stimulate China's PV power installation is still in need. One important reason for the lack of such policies is that whether the benefits associated with PV power cover the cost of subsidy is unclear. In this paper, we carry out a detailed study to quantify the co-benefit from the replacement of traditional coal-fired power by the large-scale photovoltaic power (LS-PV) comprised of polycrystalline cells in China. Our life cycle analysis (LCA) shows that the estimated co-benefit of polycrystalline LS-PV is 0.167 yuan/kWh, and the year of grid parity will come about 4 years earlier in China if the co-benefit is internalized. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.