DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ALL Sections must be completed using Block Capitals or typed

CODE AND TITLE OF COURSEWORK

Course code:
MECHM020

Title:
New and Renewable Energy Systems

STUDENT NAME: Hashim Dangra

DEGREE AND YEAR: 4th Year MEng Mechanical Engineering

LAB GROUP: -

DATE OF LAB. SESSION: -

DATE COURSEWORK DUE FOR SUBMISSION: 20th November 2015

ACTUAL DATE OF SUBMISSION: 20th November 2015

LECTURERS NAME: -

PERSONAL TUTORS NAME: M. Selfrdige

RECEIVED DATE AND INITIALS:

I confirm that this is all my own work (if submitted electronically, submission will
be taken as confirmation that this is your own work, and will also act as student
signature)

Signed:

University College London, Torrington Place LONDON WC1E 7JE

MECHM020
New & Renewable Energy Systems
Assignment 2
Hashim Dangra
20th November 2015

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

Hashim Dangra

Photovoltaic Solar Power in Brazil

Introduction
The use of solar power in Brazil has been extremely limited, even though it has favourable lighting
conditions with one of the worlds highest solar incidences, ranging from 4.25 to 6.5 hours per day
[1].
Figure 1 shows a map of the solar potential
in Brazil, with the darker areas offering the highest
energy outputs.
This report will explore the possible installation of solar power plants to supply electrical power to the grid, and determine the environmental, political, and economic impacts of such a venture.
In order to calculate the number of units required to produce a chosen energy output of 5GWh, various solar calculators were tested, the ideal calculator was found to be
the PVWatts Calculator by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory [3]. It was chosen as it provides the resource
data for areas with the highest solar incidence, including
Figure 1: Map showing solar potential in
the city of Fortaleza, located in State of Ceara, where the
Brazil. [2]
one of the highest average annual solar power production
can be found.
The specific plot of land that will be used for the installation of the solar power plant will be a 138 acre
farm that is currently on sale in the state of Ceara, close to the City of Itapipoca and approximately 130
km from Fortaleza. It currently does not have any crops, and will require development and planning
permission to allow the solar power plant to be built on site. Figure 2 shows the farm and its location
relative to Fortaleza.

Figure 2: Map showing location of farm (Left) and farm field (Right).

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Calculating Number of Units Required

Photovoltaic Cell Modules
From the various types of photovoltaic cells available on the market, 3 main modules were analysed.
These include Monocrystalline Silicon, Polycrystalline Silicon, and Thin-Film Solar Cells. Based on
research [4], the monocrystalline silicon solar cells offer the highest efficiency rates, typically 15-20%, as
they are manufactured using the highest-grade silicon. They are also the most space-efficient and offer
the longest life-span. Limitations of this type of solar cell mean that, should they become partially
covered by shade, dirt, or snow, the circuit may malfunction and therefore requires them to be installed
where this can be prevented. They are also the most expensive solar cells, and their performance can
be affected by extremely high temperatures. This will not be an issue for the specific location that has
been chosen, as the annual change in maximum temperature is between 28-30 C, which is within the
operating temperature for this type of cell. For these reasons, the Monocrystalline Silicon (MS) Solar
Cells were chosen for the potential solar power plant.

Efficiency Calculations
Using the e-commerce website Alibaba.com [5], various MS cell manufacturers were explored and 3
main options were compared to find the most suitable manufacturer to supply the photovoltaic cells,
with performance, availability, and cost being the main criteria of comparison.
Table 1: Efficiency calculations for photovoltaic cell options.
Manufacturer

Quoted Effi- width

ciency
(mm)

height
(mm)

Quoted
Power
Output
(W)

Power/Area Calculated
(W/m2)
Efficiency
(%)

Blue Sun (China)

Trina (US)
Sunny Power (China)
Canadian Solar

18

1956
1650
1580
1650

300
260
190
275

154.61
158.85
148.83
168.01

16.8

992
992
808
992

15.46
15.88
14.88
16.80

From the findings in Table 1, it was decided that the Canadian Solar monocrystalline silicon solar cell,
model Quartech CS6K-270275M, would be chosen for the solar power plant, as this would give the
highest calculated efficiency, and presented the most reliable information in the data sheet [6]. The
cost of this solar cell will be discussed in later sections.

PVWatts Solar Calculations

The PVWatts Solar Calculator was used to determine the total electrical output of 1 module of the
CanadianSolar photovoltaic cell. The DC System Size was input as 0.275kW, the rated power output
from 1 PV module. After this, the tilt angle was tested to observe the affect on energy production. It
was found that from 10 , as the angle increased, the AC energy output would decrease very slightly.
This is due to the fact that the tilt angle is usually higher than the locations latitude, which is
favourable for winter sun hours. From the climate data, the average monthly hours of sunshine
throughout the year showed the highest amount of sun hours during the winter months. [7] The tilt
angle chosen for this setup was 20 , as this was a suitable angle that would produce sufficient AC
energy, whilst also allowing rain to have a cleaning effect on the surface and therefore reducing the cost
of maintenance. The azimuthal angle for fixed modules was assumed to be 0 , in order to maximise

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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the electricity production over the year by positioning the modules in a North-facing manner. This is
typical of solar plants in the southern hemisphere. The calculations can be seen in Table 2.
Results
Table 2: Results of no of unit calculations.
Array Type

Fixed (Open Rack)

1 Tilt Angle
2 Tilt Angles
1-Axis Tracking
1-Axis Backtracking
2-Axis Tracking

Total
AC
En- No. of units 150
Energy
ergy/(KWh/Year)
(GWh)
(kWh/m2/day)
5.48
5.4
6.63
6.67
7.15

369
363
451
452
484

40650.41
41322.31
33259.42
33185.84
30991.74

406504.1
413223.1
332594.2
331858.4
309917.4

350 (GWh)

948509.5
964187.3
776053.2
774336.3
723140.5

The option of having half of the modules arranged south facing (ideal for summer months) and the
other half arranged north facing (ideal for winter months), can be seen in the fixed array type with
2 tilt angles. This option yields a lower output than having all of the modules arranged with 1 tilt
angle, and this is due to the fact that at any given moment, half of the PV cells are not producing
their maximum potential. This leads to an overall lower production, and therefore would not be the
best option for this investigation.
It can be seen from Table 2 that solar tracking systems offer significantly larger output yields as they
move to provide the best possible output on the day. 1-axis tracking systems have the ability rotate so
that they are able to point directly at the sun for a much longer period of time during the day. 2-axis
systems can rotate in such a way that they are able to do this throughout the whole year, as they have
the ability to change the azimuthal angle. From the calculations, the 2-axis tracking system provides
the highest AC energy per year, and therefore requires the least number of units.
Losses
The assumptions for the losses were used in the derate factor, which allowed the calculation of the
efficiency from DC to AC production, are summarised as follows and were taken into account in the
calculations:
Soiling - 2%: This occurs when solar radiation is prevented from reaching the solar cells due to dirt or
other substances on the surface of the PV module. The impact of this can be reduced by positioning
the module at tilt angles greater than 15 , which allow rain water to provide a cleaning effect on the
surface of the module. Proper maintenance of the modules, such as washing off any dirt that has
collected over time can also be employed to reduce this.
Shading - 0%: This is caused by the shade of nearby structures such as trees, buildings, as well
as self-shading where neighbouring modules shadows are cast onto the module, creating losses in
power production. For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that the distance between the
modules would be large enough so as to negate this effect completely. However, in reality limited space
and budget for projects such as this would mean that this loss would have to be incurred as a compromise.

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Snow - 0%: Due to the climate conditions in the region around Fortaleza, the losses due to snow
would be negligible, as no snow fall is reported throughout the year. The PV Modules are designed to
withstand a snow load of up to 5400Pa and wind loads of 2400Pa, which make it structurally sound.
Mismatch - 2%: This is caused by the manufacturing tolerances and imperfections, which cause the
module to have slightly different current-voltage characteristics. The value of 2% was chosen by the
calculator as a suitable default for the majority of PV systems [3].
Wiring - 2%: This is due to the resistive losses in the wires connecting the electronics, such as the
inverters, DC, and AC circuits.
Connections - 0.5%: These are caused by resistive losses in electrical connections within the system.
Light-Induced Degradation - 1.5%: This is due to the effect of reduction in the modules power during
the initial months of operation, causing light-induced degradation of the cells.
Nameplate Rating - 1%: This is the loss of accuracy in the manufacturers nameplate rating, i.e.
empirical measurements of the PV module are different to those rated by the manufacturer. This is
often caused by different operating conditions for different projects, however it can be assumed to be
within 1%, as the companies offer reliable data sheets for their products.
Age - 13.33%: This was calculated based on the fact that the solar plant will need to produce its target
energy outputs over the next 15 years. The effect of weathering over time will mean that the overall
efficiency of the solar cell will gradually reduce over time. From the CanadianSolar data sheet [3], as
part of the warranty, it is stated that the power output after 10 year will not fall under 90%, and after
25 year years will not fall under 80%. Interpolating for 15 years gives a value of 86.66%, and therefore
the losses caused by age are 13.33%. This means, however, that when the modules are first installed
they will be exceeding their target electrical output, as they will not have incurred 13.33% losses due
to ageing. For the age derate factor, based on 0.9 being used for the 11th year of operation, 0.87 was
assumed to be representative of 15 years of operation.
Availability - 3%: This is the reduced system output due to either scheduled or unscheduled system
shut-downs or maintenance works. From the manufacturer data [6], the maintenance required for
these modules are regular cleaning and inspection of electrical component integrity. Therefore, it was
assumed that the losses caused by availability would be very low, with the system possible being
switched off for rare severe weather occurrences.

Derate Factor
The PVWatts Derate Factor Calculator was used to determine the DC to AC Derate Factor, and
the assumptions are shown in Table 3. The inverter selected to be used with the CanadianSolar PV
module was the Zhejiang Xintuo New Energy 300W inverter, which has an efficiency of 96%. The
overall derate factor is the product of all fo the component derate factors, and it was accounted for in
the PCWatts Solar calculator through input fields of percentage losses that have been stated above.

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Table 3: Derate Factor Calculator

Component Derate Factors

Component Derate Values

PV module nameplate DC rating

Inverter and Transfomer
Mismatch
Diodes and Connections
DC Wiring
AC Wiring
Soiling
System Availability
Shading
Sun-Tracking
Age

0.95
0.96
0.98
0.995
0.98
0.99
0.98
0.97
1
1
0.85

Overall Derate Factor

0.674

Total Area Required for 15GWh per year

The first step in calculating the total area required by the PV modules to achieve an output of 15GWh
per year, the minimum spacing between rows was calculated using the lecture notes, and can be seen
in Table 4:
Table 4: Minimum Spacing and Area Calculations
L

H
D1 + D2
Min. Spacing
Min. Area

1.65
20
87
69.5
1.51
4.39
4.89
4.851985

Using this value of 4.39m, which is the calculated minimum spacing, 0.5m were added to allow enough
space for the effects of shading to become negligible. The total area that 1 module would require was
calculated by multiplying with the width, giving, 4.89m2 . Assuming that modules in each row were
arranged side by side, and the final plant would occupy a square piece of land, the total area was
calculated and is shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Total Area Covered by Solar Modules
Array Type
Fixed (Open Rack)

No. of units

Total Area (m2)

Acres

40650.41
41322.31
33259.42
33185.84
30991.74

197235.2
200495.3
161374.2
161017.2
150371.4

48.74
49.54
39.88
39.79
37.16

1 Tilt Angle
2 Tilt Angles

1-Axis Tracking
1-Axis Backtracking
2-Axis Tracking

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Cost Analysis
Table 6: Cost Breakdown
Item

Unit Cost USD

Quantity

Total Cost USD

Total Cost GBP

PV Module
Inverter
Other Electronics
Mounting (fixed) [8]
Mounting (1-axis) [9]
Mounting (2-Axis) [10]
Installation
Land
Maintenance

165
50
20
500
1050
2500
250000
250000
40000

40650
40650
40650
2236
5543
3409
1
1
15

6707317
2032520
813008.1
1117886
5820399
8522727
250000
250000
600000

4359756
1321138
528455.3
726626
3783259
5539773
162500
162500
390000

Fixed
1-Axis
2-Axis

11770732
16473245
19175573

7650976
10707609
12464122

Fixed
1-Axis
2-Axis

0.05
0.07
0.09

0.03
0.05
0.06

Total Cost

Cost/KWh

Over 15 Years

The costs for the PV modules were taken from the manufacturer website, and the Inverter and
Mountings were from Alibaba.com. The prices listed were ranges, and the highest range was assumed
in order to overestimate the costs. This will account for specific costs that have not been included
in Table 6, as it is a high-level cost breakdown. Other electronics, such as wiring, cables, connectors,
and control systems, were assumed to average to 20 dollars per unit. The quantity of mountings were
calculated from the results in Table 2, and the prices were estimated from the suppliers range of prices
for the specific mounting; the links to these mountings can be found in the References Section.
Installation of the solar power plant was assumed to be carried out by a contracting company, such as
Energy Team Brasil [11], who specialise in the installation of household and commercial solar plants
on the grid. As no price was available, a nominal contract price of 250,000 dollars was assumed to
be the cost of installing the fixed solar panels, assuming 100 dollars per module unit mounting, as
well as other electronics assemblies. The land is currently listed on BrazilPrime [12] with a list price
of 250,000 dollars, and a maintenance cost of 40,000 dollars was assumed which includes the cost of
maintenance staff and equipment, multiplied by 15 years of operation.
From the Table 6, it can be seen that the cheapest cost of manufacturing electricity (kWh) was given
by installing fixed PV modules with the same tilt and azimuthal angles.

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Environmental Impact
Land Use
The use of large scale PV solar power plants leads to concerns over land degradation and habitat
loss. The solar panels occupy a large area of land and cannot share this land with other uses, such as
agriculture which can be shared by wind turbines, and therefore to reduce this impact, the sites on which
solar power plants are developed should be lower-quality. Examples of these can include brownfields,
transportation and transmission corridors, and abandoned mining land. These are sometimes logistically
unviable locations however, and a compromise must be made between cost of developing the site on
low-quality land and occupation of good-quality land.

Impact on soil, water and air resources

The development and construction of solar facilities can lead to soil compaction, increased erosion, and
alteration of drainange channels. The latter can result in the release of soil-carried pathogens that
can contaminate the water in surrounding areas, as well as increase particulate matter. At the end of
the solar power plants life, once the plant has been decommissioned, the soil and water may require
treatment before agriculture can be cultivated on the site.

Solar Panel Recycling

The production of PV solar cells requires many precious metals, including silver, tellurium, or indium,
and mainly silicon. The manufacturing of silicon is requires high energy input and this is often supplied
by energy from fossil fuels. This means that recycling solar panels should be carried out to reduce
the need for further energy use in production. However, recycling of solar panels is limited by few
locations that are able to do so, mainly due to the fact that there are not a significant number of
non-operational solar panels to invest in distributed solar panel recycling facilities.

Pressure Groups
Some pressure groups that may be interested in the development of solar power are global organisations
such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and Greenmatch. These groups may feel that, although solar
power is doing well to produce power from renewable sources, its production damages the environment
to releasing greenhouse gases from fossil fuel power plants. Having said this, the local community
may be more affected by the development of a solar power plant in their area. They will need to be
addressed to show the advantages of installing solar power in their constituency, and be provided with
assurances of the safety of having a solar power plant near their land. Another consideration may be
that locals dislike the aesthetics of solar panels on their natural land.

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Planning Procedures and Approvals

Property development in Brazil is regulated with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable
Natural Resources (IBAMA). The first step of obtaining planning permission for development is to
make an application to the local Town Hall, which issues the first license called an Anuencia. This
authorises the project conformance with town legislation and should take around 1 month to be issued.
The second license, which will be required by a state environmental agency, is the Licena Previa.
This is a requirement of the Brazilian Constitution of October 5, 1988, article 225, IV, which states
that every project that causes an environmental impact requires an environmental study. This is
preliminary authorisation studies the conditions to be met in the next stages of implementation at
which a request for an Environmental Impact Assessment is made.
The third license required is the Licena de Instalao, which authorises the installation of the project
according to the specifications of the plans submitted, including environmental. The final license
required by the environmental agency is the Licena de Operao, which authorises the project to be
operated, after the verification of the previous licenses. The final license required from the Town Hall
is th Habite-Se, which is authorisation from the Town Hall to confirm that the installation is in
accordance with the planning applications.
As the timescales for all of the licenses are specific to the project, it can be assumed with respected to
the size of the project that the total time required to obtain planning permission is 18 months. This is
because of the different parties involved in the approval process, including the town hall and various
government and environmental agencies. [14]

Grants and Incentives

The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that: Outside of rural electrification efforts, solar
PV has remained largely absent from renewable energy development, partly due to the governments
skepticism on its economic viability compared with other sources. [13]. One of the reasons solar
power has not seen growth is due to Brazils dependency and heavy investment in Hydroelectric
Power, which is the largest renewable energy source utilised by Brazil. Currently, solar technology
is heavily taxed, in the range of 12%, and so an inverter that costs US$5,000 is sold for $11,800 in Brazil.
However, there are efforts to increase the use of solar power in Brazil, and reduce the taxes currently
imposed to allow the technology to become more available for commercial use. A bill in the Senate
proposes to reduce import taxes for companies that operate with the use of solar energy. In addition,
the Brazilian state of Miras Gerais launched a renewable energy incentive programme which saw
companies receiving tax breaks for investment in renewable energy resources. Although this has not yet
been implemented in other states, the aim is to increase the use of solar and other renewable sources
in the future.

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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Executive Summary
A Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant is to be built in the city of Itapipoca, state of Ceara, in the NorthEastern region of Brazil. This location has been chosen for its solar potential, with favourable sunlight
conditions throughout the year, as well as the availability of required area of land near the city. The
plant will be built on a 140 acre farm, with a flat terrain and potential to install solar modules and
necessary structures.
Monocrystalline silicon solar cells will be used as they offer the highest efficiency and are the most
space-efficient module types, and will be provided by CanadianSolar. The output of the modules are
275W, with an efficiency of 16.8%. The inverter will by supplied by Zhejiang Xintuo New Energy and
purchased using Alibaba.com. Calculations were carried out for this setup, with derate factor losses
taken into account, to find the number of units required to meet the energy requirement of 5GWh per
year, over 15 years. The amount of land required to install the calculated number of units required
was also found and Table 7 summarises the data and calculations.
Table 7: Calculations of Options Summary
Array Type

AC Energy

No. of units

Total Area

Total Cost

Cost/KWh

Fixed (Open Rack)

1 Tilt Angle
2 Tilt Angles
1-Axis Tracking
1-Axis Backtracking
2-Axis Tracking

(KWh/Year)
369
363
451
452
484

40650.41
41322.31
33259.42
33185.84
30991.74

Required (Acres)
48.74
49.54
39.88
39.79
37.16

(GBP)
7650976

15YEars
0.03

10707609

0.05

12464122

0.06

From the calculations, it was decided that fixed module mountings would be used, with all modules
having the same Tilt angle of 20 , as this offered superior energy output in the winter months, when
average monthly sunhours were higher than summer months.
The environmental impact of this project will mainly be the use of land, as this land cannot be shared
with agricultural activity. It will also degrade over time, due to soil compaction and water drainage
channels may be changed. However, the overall environmental impact will be relatively low, and can
be further minimised by ensuring that the solar panels are recycled when they reach the end of their
operational life.
The approvals that will be required consist of various licenses that are issued by the town hall,
government, and environmental agencies. These will require the project to meet the town legislation,
as well as Environmental Standards that will be assessed by independent environmental agencies. The
time-scale for these approvals is approximated to take 18 months, with the construction and installation
of the solar power plant requiring a further 2 years.

MECHM020 New & Renewable Energy Systems

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References
[1] Martins, Pereira, Abreu and Colle, 2010. BRAZILIAN ATLAS FOR SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCE:
SWERA RESULTS [online]
Available at: <http://www.lepten.ufsc.br/publicacoes/solar/eventos/2007/ISES/martins enio.pdf> [Accessed: 1st November 2015]
[2] SolarGIS, 2015. Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI) [online]
Available at: <http://solargis.info/doc/free-solar-radiation-maps-GHI#B> [Accessed: 1st November
2015]
[3] National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2015. Solar Calculator [online]
Available at: <http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/pvwatts.php> [Accessed: 1st November 2015]
[4] Energy Informative, 2015. Which Solar Panel Type is Best? Mono- vs. Polycrystalline vs. Thin Film [online]
Available at: <http://energyinformative.org/best-solar-panel-monocrystalline-polycrystalline-thin-film/>
[Accessed: 3rd November 2015]
[5] Ali-baba, 2015. Alibaba [online]
Available at: <http://www.alibaba.com/> [Accessed: 3rd November 2015]

[6] CanadianSolar, 2015. CS6K-M Data Sheet [online]

Available at: <http://www.canadiansolar.com/fileadmin/user upload/downloads/datasheets/v5.3/Canadian Solar-Da
[Accessed: 6th November 2015]
[7] World Weather and Climate Information, 2015. Cumboco, Brazil [online]
Available at: <https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,cumbuco,Brazil>
[Accessed: 8th November 2015]

[8] Fixed Mounting. Alibaba [online]

Available at: <http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Ground-Aluminum-Solar-Mounting-System-solar 60237181115
[Accessed: 8th November 2015]

[9] Single Axis Mounting. Alibaba [online]

Available at: <http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/pv-solar-systems-tracking-bracket-system 372659592.html?spm
[Accessed: 8th November 2015]

[10] Dual Axis Mounting. Alibaba [online]

Available at: <http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Easy-to-Operate-Dual-Axis-Solar 60302464115.html?spm=a27
[Accessed: 8th November 2015]
[11] Energy Team Brasil, 2015. Energy Team Brasil [online]
Available at: <http://energyteambrasil.com.br/> [Accessed: 10th November 2015]
[12] Brazil Prime, 2015. Farm for sale in Ceara [online]
Available at: <http://www.brazilprime.com/en/imovel-detalhes.asp?imv cod=00940&imv nat2=sitios>
[Accessed: 12th November 2015]

[13] PV Magazine, 2015. Solar power in Brazil [online]

Available at: <http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/interest-increases-in-brazilian-solar-marketbut-ch
[Accessed: 15th November 2015]

[14] NuWire Investor, 2011. How to Understand Planning Permissions and Zoning in Brazil [online]
Available at: <http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/howtos/how-to-understand-planning-permissions-and-zoning-in-brazil
[Accessed: 19th November 2015]

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