Sistema fotovoltaico x sistema convencional de alimentação: uma análise de custo

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the cost of using a photovoltaic system in a differential loading robot with two wheels, as well as to evaluate its energy performance comparing with conventional sources; to analyze the short and long-term cost of each source and to correlate with the social and environmental impacts generated. This study used as a collection data method, experiments that were delighted into the robot until the exhaustion of its power supply. From this result, it was possible to evaluate the cost of each system. In the main course of this study, it was possible to evaluate that the solar panels increased the battery life in almost 26%, and its cost, although initially high, they was stabilized in a long-term experiment. The primary batteries have kept the costs exponentially higher over experimental time. The study confirmed that the photovoltaic system presents a higher cost until the 262 minutes, being 7 to 10 times more expensive than the primary batteries and almost three times more than the secondary batteries and was considered economically unviable in environments that do not demand high energy demand. However, in long time (4 hours 32 minutes) it became viable when compared with the system that used primary cells. The photovoltaic system was considered the most suitable in this study since it presents considerable advantage to be renewable, to have a life cycle up to 10 years and to be a source of clean energy.