• Energy Research

AbstractThe theme of sustainable development has increasingly impacted the spheres of Brazilian society and has contributed to greater awareness to the need of natural resources conservation as well as issues on how to continue promoting socio-economic development of regions. One of the key issues for sustainable development is the generation of electricity with more use of renewable sources and, therefore, less environmental degradation. In this scenario, historically, Paraná State of Brazil has been one of the largest producers of electricity in the country, almost entirely from hydraulic source, due to the large existing river basin in the state. However, the use of this source in Brazil is declining due to depletion of water potential and also the pressure of society with respect to environmental, social and economic impacts caused by damming of rivers and flooding of cities and areas to form large reservoirs. To overcome these limitations, other sources have been studied and used, such as biomass and wind. Photovoltaic generation has been contemplated in Brazilian government policies only to supply electricity with off-grid systems in remote locations. However, due to the recent Resolution 482/2012 of ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency), which establishes rules for micro and mini-generation of electricity, it is possible that consumers install grid connected photovoltaic systems up to 1 MWp, as have been widely used in the urban environment installed or integrated on roofs as a form of distributed generation, particularly in Europe, where counts with installed capacity in GW range, while in Brazil it counts only with a few MW. Given this new perspective of growth of the Brazilian photovoltaic electricity generation this paper presents the potential of solar photovoltaic power generation in Paraná State, Brazil, with a comparative analysis with the potential presented by some European countries. The presented solar and photovoltaic maps uses irradiation data obtained from SWERA project (Solar and Wind Energy Resources Assessment), which was coordinated in Brazil by National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The results of this analysis can contribute to development of public policies related to projects and researches in photovoltaic aiming to spread the use of this renewable energy source in Paraná.

AbstractThe theme of sustainable development has increasingly impacted the spheres of Brazilian society and has contributed to greater awareness to the need of natural resources conservation as well as issues on how to continue promoting socio-economic development of regions. One of the key issues for sustainable development is the generation of electricity with more use of renewable sources and, therefore, less environmental degradation. In this scenario, historically, Paraná State of Brazil has been one of the largest producers of electricity in the country, almost entirely from hydraulic source, due to the large existing river basin in the state. However, the use of this source in Brazil is declining due to depletion of water potential and also the pressure of society with respect to environmental, social and economic impacts caused by damming of rivers and flooding of cities and areas to form large reservoirs. To overcome these limitations, other sources have been studied and used, such as biomass and wind. Photovoltaic generation has been contemplated in Brazilian government policies only to supply electricity with off-grid systems in remote locations. However, due to the recent Resolution 482/2012 of ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency), which establishes rules for micro and mini-generation of electricity, it is possible that consumers install grid connected photovoltaic systems up to 1 MWp, as have been widely used in the urban environment installed or integrated on roofs as a form of distributed generation, particularly in Europe, where counts with installed capacity in GW range, while in Brazil it counts only with a few MW. Given this new perspective of growth of the Brazilian photovoltaic electricity generation this paper presents the potential of solar photovoltaic power generation in Paraná State, Brazil, with a comparative analysis with the potential presented by some European countries. The presented solar and photovoltaic maps uses irradiation data obtained from SWERA project (Solar and Wind Energy Resources Assessment), which was coordinated in Brazil by National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The results of this analysis can contribute to development of public policies related to projects and researches in photovoltaic aiming to spread the use of this renewable energy source in Paraná.

ABSTRACT Solar energy as a form of electric power generation is gaining ground in Brazil, being the subject of worldwide discussions on sustainability. The electric energy, a right of all citizens, represents a consumption of natural resources on a large scale. State schools in Paraná invested more than R$ 46 million to guarantee electricity and thus provide essential running conditions to the system in 2016. Through open data, 15 schools from "Regional Administrativa do Cajuru", in Curitiba/PR, were evaluated in consumption and expenses of electric energy from January to May of 2017 and a solar photovoltaic system was dimensioned to supply the demand of each school. From that, it was estimated the total saving from the electricity that would no longer be spent on electricity which could be directed to other educational programs and projects of interest to the community towards sustainability within the school. The savings estimated totalized more than R$ 435 thousand annually.

ABSTRACT Solar energy as a form of electric power generation is gaining ground in Brazil, being the subject of worldwide discussions on sustainability. The electric energy, a right of all citizens, represents a consumption of natural resources on a large scale. State schools in Paraná invested more than R$ 46 million to guarantee electricity and thus provide essential running conditions to the system in 2016. Through open data, 15 schools from "Regional Administrativa do Cajuru", in Curitiba/PR, were evaluated in consumption and expenses of electric energy from January to May of 2017 and a solar photovoltaic system was dimensioned to supply the demand of each school. From that, it was estimated the total saving from the electricity that would no longer be spent on electricity which could be directed to other educational programs and projects of interest to the community towards sustainability within the school. The savings estimated totalized more than R$ 435 thousand annually.

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) buildings are increasingly present in urban centers and can generate their own energy becoming independent of the grid, depending on their consumption profile. However, most residential and commercial consumers show their peak demand at night, when there is no photovoltaic generation, needing the electricity grid to meet the demand of these facilities. Peak demand lead to increased costs for these consumers and end up disrupting the power quality of the grid. One possible solution for these listed problems is by applying storage systems to these buildings, which is already being done in some countries and can increase the PV generation. Aiming to seek the state of the art of these systems, this article brings a review of the literature, highlighting the possible modes of operation and a real case of application in PV buildings in the world. Also are described the storage technologies most appropriate for applications in these buildings, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. It is expected to gain greater knowledge of these systems, in order to overcome the challenges of intermittence generated by renewable sources, enabling the reduction of energy demand costs in these customers so that it can also be applied in the Brazilian scenario.

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) buildings are increasingly present in urban centers and can generate their own energy becoming independent of the grid, depending on their consumption profile. However, most residential and commercial consumers show their peak demand at night, when there is no photovoltaic generation, needing the electricity grid to meet the demand of these facilities. Peak demand lead to increased costs for these consumers and end up disrupting the power quality of the grid. One possible solution for these listed problems is by applying storage systems to these buildings, which is already being done in some countries and can increase the PV generation. Aiming to seek the state of the art of these systems, this article brings a review of the literature, highlighting the possible modes of operation and a real case of application in PV buildings in the world. Also are described the storage technologies most appropriate for applications in these buildings, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. It is expected to gain greater knowledge of these systems, in order to overcome the challenges of intermittence generated by renewable sources, enabling the reduction of energy demand costs in these customers so that it can also be applied in the Brazilian scenario.

Abstract The photovoltaic solar energy has been growing in installed capacity worldwide year by year, and Brazil has also been investing in this renewable source of energy generation. The conversion of light into electrical energy occurs in the photovoltaic cells, which are sensitive to the increase of the temperature. A considerable amount of the energy incident on the module is transformed into heat, rising its temperature and decreasing its efficiency. This study aims to estimate the temperature in photovoltaic cells (Tc) for polycrystalline silicon modules from a grid-connected photovoltaic systems through several equations proposed over the last decades by researchers. This estimation will occur in the municipality of Curitiba, using data from INMET’s automatic station, located in the same city. The estimation was calculated hourly, throughout the day for one year. The validation of the estimated results was performed by measuring the cell temperature of a photovoltaic system installed in Curitiba, where it was observed that the equation proposed by Duffie and Beckman (2013) was the one that most approached to the measured value.