SOLCA’s effective release!
SOLCA is now launched!
This tool, dedicated to the assessment of the environmental impacts of photovoltaic systems, is intended for enterprises wishing to perform environmental assessments and to integrate life cycle assessment results in their response to calls for tenders. It may also be used to support comparative assertions between different environmental photovoltaic installations.
More on the tool
SOLCA consists of a web-based software that non-LCA experts can use. It provides an intuitive way to assess, in a short time, the environmental impacts of an installation. Users must fill out information on their photovoltaic installation such as the power range, the type of technology, etc. Based on this information, the software proposes default values to the user who may carry out a life cycle assessment study. These values are intentionally conservative but not excessively overestimated so as to encourage manufacturers to make their own assessment. Users can modify the reference values as well as the impact factors on the condition that they provide evidence.
SOLCA is a free tool and a collaborative project led by ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and Cycleco (a French engineering firm specialized in life cycle assessment studies, eco-design and environmental footprinting).
Product categories covered by the framework
Out of tender projects
For projects outside of calls for tender, the software contains an advanced user profile. It includes additional features to explore the environmental impacts of photovoltaic systems in a more precise way and to make good use of this information within the company.
Contact, access, documentation
- For more information on SOLCA, please contact valentine.moreau(at)cycleco.eu.
- Please click here to access the tool (the methodological framework and the user guide can be found at this address).