How are the CO2 emissions avoided calculated?
Emissions reductions or savings are calculated on both yearly and lease lifetime basis in terms of grams of grid electricity CO2equivalent/kWh, that are being avoided through solar generation. The effect of this saving is quantified using a metric known as the "emissions factor", which refers to the grams of CO2 equivalent that are associated per kWh of electricity used.
To get the 'avoided emissions' we take this number of emissions saved and then subtract from that the emissions that are associated to each project - i.e. emissions incurred through project development, manufacturing, construction and operation.