Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Modeling and Analysis of Floating Solar Panels with Tracking System for Hydroelectric Plants in the Amazon Region of Brazil
Submission Author:
Cláudio Basquerotto , PA , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Cláudio Basquerotto, Jhonny Feldhaus, Antonio Eduardo Turra, Joao Pereira
Presenter: Cláudio Basquerotto
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0294
Abstract
Renewable energy sources have been gaining worldwide attention as a promising solution to the challenges posed by excessive reliance on non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels. These sources utilize natural resources that are continuously replenished, such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass energy, thus significantly contributing to mitigating environmental impacts and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. In the field of solar energy, a proposal that has been gaining ground is the development of photovoltaic plants on water, in which solar energy collector panels are installed directly on the reservoir using floating platforms as a base for their installation, instead of the traditional land-based installation. However, the intensity of solar radiation varies throughout the day/year, depending on the geographical location, and therefore, arrangements and technologies that allow for maximizing the efficiency of utilization represent important aspects to be considered in the use of solar radiation. Another relevant aspect is intermittency, which can be compensated with complementary energy storage technologies. The variation in the intensity of solar radiation incidence on the panel can be reduced with arrangements and technologies that allow for adjusting the positioning of photovoltaic modules to keep them in a normal plane to the direction of solar radiation incidence most of the time, following the apparent path of the Sun - the so-called tracking systems. These systems are already well established in land-based photovoltaic plant installations; however, their use in floating plants is still a challenge. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the possibility of gains in the utilization of solar tracking systems in floating photovoltaic plants. This work discusses the modeling and dynamic analysis of a floating solar panel equipped with a tracking system to operate in hydropower plants in the Amazon region of Brazil. The proposed approach involves developing mathematical models and simulation tools to analyze the dynamic behavior of the system under various operating conditions near the equator. This will enable the evaluation of the performance of floating plants with tracking systems in terms of energy production, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness and contribute to the advancement of renewable energy technologies and the promotion of sustainable energy production practices in the Amazon region of Brazil.
Keywords
Renewable energy sources, Photovoltaic plants, Dynamical Analysis, Solar tracking systems, Floating photovoltaic plants
