How come wind is 4x better than solar? I'd image a solar panel would last on average 30+ years with almost no maintenance. Does wind calculation include maintenance, decommission and recycling? Does wind have to work 24/7 to meet this number? Is production the major contributor for solar?
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These calculations are full lifecycle including everything listed. I belive the big difference here is related to energy used during fabrication of the solar panels and the mining of raw materials.
These are all per kWh so capacity factor of wind or solar is not relevant for this metric
Let me clarify: Does solar have 41CO2-eq/KWh on average or in optimal conditions? Just wonder if solar panel could possible be worse than gas (Alaska, north facing roof, heavy snow)
Ah yes, you're right. Capacity factor does matter. They give ranges to cover the point you're making. I'm using the medians. This is from Table A.III.2 from [1]. Solar PV utility ranges from 18 to 180. Hydro peaks out at a terrifying 2200 (due to biogenic methane emissions, still being researched).
[1] https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5...
You can get a solar panel to be worse than gas for sure in Alaska in winter. But we have to assume some intelligence in what people choose to do with their money.