Avaliação do uso do método PV-f-Chart na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Renewable energies grow at exponential rates both in Brazil and in the world, with photovoltaic energy being the fastest growing renewable matrix among alternative energy sources. However, photovoltaic solar energy has an intermittent character since it depends directly on climatic conditions that vary seasonally. Therefore, this dissertation aims to apply the PV F-Chart method to calculate the performance estimate of a photovoltaic system in the city of Rio de Janeiro taking into account the local climatic conditions, as they differ from the climatic conditions where the method was used successfully. The proposed method was tested by comparing simulated results using the PV F-Chart method with actual measurements of the system in operation. As the photovoltaic modules in operation had already been installed for twelve years, it was necessary to calculate the degradation rate that these modules suffered over time and a rate of 3.02% of degradation per year of the system was found. Regarding the proposed method, it was possible to obtain good results, that is, estimates close to the real values with an average error of around 6.9% taking into account that most commercial software have an error range between 5% to 7%. These differences were partly produced by the di_erences between the average monthly solar radiation data available and the measured solar radiation data.