A influência de partículas atmosféricas na redução da incidência de radiação solar aplicadas a sistemas fotovoltaicos

Abstract

In recent years there has been a considerable expansion in the field of solar energy in Brazil. It is believed that this increase is due not only to the concern with the environmental impacts generated by conventional sources, but also to the high Brazilian energy inflation. Despite being an attractive alternative, the use of solar energy has disadvantages when compared to conventional sources. This is due to the high dependence on climatic factors such as temperature, cloudiness and availability of solar radiation. Another factor that also influences the production of solar energy is the presence of suspended particles in the atmosphere, the so-called aerosols. Aerosols are particles in the solid or liquid state with sizes ranging from micrometers to nanometers, they can have natural or anthropogenic origin and the main sources of emission are soil dust, sea salt, biomass burning, industrial processes, vehicles, etc. However, studies indicate a loss of more than 20% in the efficiency of solar energy generation in an environment polluted by aerosols, becoming a worrying factor due to the substantial increase in the number of fires in recent years, causing the growth of the number of fires. particles suspended in the atmosphere. The aim of this work is to characterize the optical depth of atmospheric aerosols in a Cerrado-Matogrossense region, in order to verify how seasonal and annual variations of aerosols occur, as well as to investigate which are their main sources. The objective is also to investigate whether there is a statistical correlation between the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and the power of photovoltaic modules. To carry out this research, optical depth data and derivatives made available by the AERONET network (Aerosol Robotic Network) from a spectral radiometer located in Cuibá-MT (15◦ 43′ 44′′ Sul and 56◦ 01′ 15′′ West), in addition to installing and maintaining a photovoltaic module on the premises of the Graduate Program in Environmental Physics, also in Cuiabá (15◦ 36′ 31.8 ′′ South and 56◦ 03′ 48.0 ′′ West). Data from a residential photovoltaic system located in Cuiabá (15°29’31"South 56°3’47"West) were also used. When characterizing the aerosols, there was a predominance of aerosols in the 500nm range. It was noticed that in the investigated region there is a great predominance of aerosols from biomass burning, in addition to a great increase in AOD indices during the dry period. In the calculation of Spearman’s correlation coefficient, no statistically significant correlation was found for the Photovoltaic Module, with samples of electric current and AOD and also electric power and AOD. However, in the analysis carried out with the Residential Photovoltaic System, correlation coefficients equal to -0.60 and -0.40 were found for the correlation between Energy generated x AOD and Electric power and AOD, respectively. The negative sign indicates that there is an inversely proportional relationship between the variables, that is, as the AOD increases, the energy generated by the plate decreases, as well as the electrical power.