IEA-PVPS has released an updated 2026 Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) report, providing more representative data on PV manufacturing, energy use, emissions, recycling, and end-of-life processes. The update highlights major improvements in silicon recycling, wafer efficiency, and reduced environmental impacts across PV supply chains.
The International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) has published a comprehensive update to its life cycle inventories (LCIs) report. This LCI report – last published in 2020 – serves as a comprehensive database of the materials, energy use, emissions, and processes involved in manufacturing, operating, and recycling PV systems throughout their entire life cycle.
“What stands out most is how much the silicon supply chain has changed since the previous report, and how directly this shows up in the inventory,” said Matthias Stucki from IEA-PVPS’ Task 12, to pv magazine. “The aggregated industry data show a clear increase in the share of internally recycled silicon in ingot production compared with previous report editions.”
Stucki explained that this concerns a specific, well-defined loop: scrap from the cropping and squaring of monocrystalline ingots retains solar-grade purity and can be reintroduced into crystal growth. “In our inventories this closed-loop recycling is modeled as a dedicated process with its own material and energy inputs,” the contributing author of Report IEA-PVPS T12-33:2026 has added.
