A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF LOCALITY IN THE VIABILITY OF SOLAR TRACKER SYSTEMS
Karen Barbosa de Melo1; Bruno Henrique Kikumoto de Paula1; Michelle Kitayama da Silva1; Dante Inga Narváez1; Hugo Soeiro Moreira1; Marcelo Gradella Villalva1; Thais Gama de Siqueira2
1 Universidade Estadual de Campinas; 2 Universidade Federal de Alfenas
Baixar PDF doi:10.20906/CPS/CBA2018-0622
Resumo
Photovoltaic solar energy has been explored as a solution to meet the growing demand for electricity from a clean and renewable source. However, the low energy conversion efficiency of photovoltaic panels is one of the factors that hamper the competitiveness of this energy source compared to the others. Solar trackers are used to improve the per-formance of photovoltaic systems; however, they have a higher installation cost and maintenance. This article presents a review of several types of solar trackers, as well as simulations of a 1 MWp power plant in seven cities of Brazil, to evaluate the influence of locality in the viability of solar trackers systems. The results showed that Bom Jesus da Lapa - BA presents the best performance among the cities tested, both technically and economically. Also, solar-powered plants with solar trackers have better economic viability than fixed-panel power plants in all cities studied.
Palavras-chave: Solar trackers; Solar energy; Photovoltaic panels; Viability; Photovoltaic plants