Fotovoltinės vandens šildymo sistemos valdiklio ekologinis projektavimas ; Ecodesign of the photovoltaic water heating system controller

Abstract

As the population grows consumer habits and the pace of life makes people use as much as possible. Various electrical and electronic equipments require a lot of raw materials, energy. They are made of rare metals and critical raw materials. The shorter lifetime of products increases the number of electronics waste. Complex recycling is a loss of raw materials. European Union directives not only encourage Union Members to manage waste responsibly and move to a circular economy but also to move towards the use of renewable energy sources. The objective of this master's thesis is to analyze the life cycle of photovoltaic water heating system controller, to assess the environmental impact and to propose solutions to reduce that impact. This work aims to contribute to the goals of sustainable development, reducing energy consumption, changing hazardous materials to non-hazardous, using renewable energy and managing waste properly. The statistical researches were collected, scientific and practical literature, current legal requirements were analyzed, environmental impact assessment of the controller was carried out, according to the life cycle assessment methodology, according to the ecodesign methodology and solutions for controller improvement were proposed in this work. The work involved the production, use phase, disassembly and arrangement of the controller and its components. Assessing the controller life cycle the results are as follows: the greatest environmental impact is at the stage of use of the controller. After ecological design the environmental impact is reduced by 13,4 %, in use - by 30.5%.