Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability
Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability is a research topic within Environmental Engineering. Science Explorer counts 10k research works in it since 1950. 14.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers focuses on the environmental impacts, life cycle assessment, energy payback time, and greenhouse gas emissions of solar energy technologies, particularly photovoltaic systems. It also explores the integration of solar panels with agriculture (agrivoltaic systems) and the recycling and end-of-life management of photovoltaic modules.
- Solar Energy
- Life Cycle Assessment
- Photovoltaic Systems
- Land Use
- Recycling
- Agrivoltaic Systems
- Energy Payback Time
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- End-of-Life Management
- Renewable Energy
- Research works
- 10k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 1.4k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 14.3% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +72% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability research?
By volume, China and the United States publish the most (450 and 370 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 China 450 works
- 2 United States 370 works
- 3 India 301 works
- 4 Brazil 254 works
- 5 Italy 147 works
- 6 Germany 123 works
- 7 Spain 115 works
- 8 France 99 works
- 9 United Kingdom 99 works
- 10 Australia 79 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability research?
By volume in 2022–2025, UNSW Sydney publishes the most Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability research, followed by National Laboratory of the Rockies and Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 UNSW SydneyAustralia 27 works
- 2 National Laboratory of the RockiesUnited States 27 works
- 3 Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 19 works
- 4 Politecnico di MilanoItaly 16 works
- 5 Western UniversityCanada 15 works
- 6 Arizona State UniversityUnited States 14 works
- 7 Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy SystemsGermany 14 works
- 8 North China Electric Power UniversityChina 13 works
- 9 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 11 works
- 10 Technical University of SofiaBulgaria 11 works
Who are the leading researchers in Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability include Saad Mekhilef and Frederik C. Krebs.
- 1 Saad Mekhilef Malaysia 2.5k citations
- 2 Frederik C. Krebs Denmark 2.3k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability research done?
The largest centres of Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Sydney (Australia), Nanjing (China) and Golden (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Golden and Florianópolis.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- GoldenUS · 29.1 works32×
- FlorianópolisBR · 23.1 works7.3×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability?
Among universities, judged by research, Western University, UNSW Sydney and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western UniversityCanada | 72.6 | 56.0% | 8.0× | 15 | — |
| 2 | UNSW SydneyAustralia | 66.3 | 17.0% | 9.7× | 27 | +22.8% |
| 3 | King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia | 52.0 | 33.3% | 7.3× | 9 | — |
| 4 | Politecnico di MilanoItaly | 47.5 | 25.7% | 6.5× | 16 | +1.9% |
| 5 | Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáBrazil | 47.5 | 0.0% | 12.5× | 11 | +595.1% |
| 6 | Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil | 47.2 | 4.5% | 8.9× | 19 | +65.8% |
| 7 | Arizona State UniversityUnited States | 45.1 | 13.0% | 6.2× | 14 | +130.3% |
| 8 | Technical University of SofiaBulgaria | 38.3 | 1.0% | 23.8× | 11 | — |
| 9 | North China Electric Power UniversityChina | 37.9 | 24.4% | 5.6× | 13 | +30.3% |
| 10 | Delhi Technological UniversityIndia | 36.1 | 16.3% | 8.7× | 8 | — |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 72% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Photovoltaic Systems and Sustainability.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.