Embodied carbon calculation - Solar photovoltaic systems

Hello, I need help with determining the embodied carbon emissions of a solar photovoltaic installation. Should I ask the manufacturers for an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)? I found the DT65 Embodied Carbon Calculator: United Kingdom (beta v1.3) (2023) tool, but it costs £90. Is it worth buying this tool to do the calculations? Thank you.

  • I'd start by asking the manufacturers, but I'd not be too shocked if the answer is a bit woolly. Such calculations are very hard, not because the sums are hard, but because  folk often do not have full visibility of the supply chain that gets them the materials they use and so do not really know what numbers to put in.  The software can give you a well presented answer, but is only as good as the assumptions made in the numbers put into it.

    Mike.

    PS attached is an example of the sort of data collection that goes into such a statement.

  • Have you defined the limits of your installation? This may show where you need to enquire. 

    Are you just looking at the components, solar panels, inverter, etc. or a complete system with transport, installation, cabling, maintenance and so on?