Reviewing Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicles: Synergy and End of Life Management

Energy supply and mobility are necessary functions of economic development and have become global latent themes concerning sustainability. In the electricity sector renewable energy technologies, such as solar photovoltaic (PV), have grown significantly over its competitors in terms of investment in the past 20 years. Still, adoption of the technology has not grown quickly enough to decarbonize the sector. In the mobility sector, however, combustion engines have been replaced with electric vehicles (EV), illustrating a greater potential to mitigate emission of polluting gases. Still, the production of EV technology can yield high emissions. Instead of either technology working separately, both PV and EV may be able to cooperate in a manner where PV systems power clean electricity to produce and charge EV batteries until they return to a stationary storing system (i.e., second life) for PV systems. The following study investigates the use of EV batteries for PV systems, assessing the possible toxic effects on the environment from manufacturing, using, and disposing the technology. A review of peer-reviewed articles shed light on possible hazards of clean technologies in the energy and mobility sectors. Findings suggest the diffusion of clean technologies must be accompanied by policies that guarantee responsible disposal of them. The study concludes that advanced technological mechanisms for renewable energy may have significantly negative and sometimes obscured environmental impacts, which must be considered in future policies advocating for those technologies.