No abstract

No abstract

Photovoltaic panels have a limited lifespan and estimates show large amounts of solar modules will be discarded as electronic waste in a near future. In order to retrieve important raw materials, reduce production costs and environmental impacts, recycling such devices is important. Initially, this article investigates which silicon photovoltaic module's components are recyclable through their characterization using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersion spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Next, different separation methods are tested to favour further recycling processes. The glass was identified as soda-lime glass, the metallic filaments were identified as tin-lead coated copper, the panel cells were made of silicon and had silver filaments attached to it and the modules' frames were identified as aluminium, all of which are recyclable. Moreover, three different components segregation methods have been studied. Mechanical milling followed by sieving was able to separate silver from copper while chemical separation using sulphuric acid was able to detach the semiconductor material. A thermo gravimetric analysis was performed to evaluate the use of a pyrolysis step prior to the component's removal. The analysis showed all polymeric fractions present degrade at 500 °C.

This work studies the complementarity between hydro, wind and solar photovoltaic energy in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil is a country highly dependent on hydro energy; however, the existent plants are not being able to cover the energy demand in recent years. In this context, the state of Rio Grande do Sul becomes important because of its potential for wind and solar photovoltaic energy, having complementarity between water, wind and solar photovoltaic schemes when hydroelectric reservoirs are at their lowest levels. This study aims to survey the complementarity of various parts of Rio Grande do Sul by proposing mathematical dimensionless ratios, focusing on intra-annual period to carry out a mapping of the entire state. It also analyses the ability to provide power supply throughout the year, through the stabilization of the energy supply, which depends on an adequate scale for photovoltaic, wind power and hydroelectric harnessing. According to the results obtained, the regions with the best complementarity indexes for deployment of a hybrid system in relation to water and wind power were the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre and the Southeast region, and the same regions also presented the best results for the complementarity between hydro and solar photovoltaic. Regarding wind and solar photovoltaic energy, the state's northeast region presented the best results. Finally, the Northeast region of the state also presented the best results for the three energies together.

Wind power is an increasingly important alternative for obtaining energy supplies, both in large interconnected power systems and in smaller hybrid systems and even in backup systems. The temporal and spatial variability of the winds represent an obstacle to be overcome so that wind energy can be increasingly used. The capacity factor of wind farms shows how this variability impacts the operation of the plants and its value is of the order of 30% to 35%. The variability of the wind speed is influenced if the point of interest is on land or on sea, the shape of the surface, the proximity of water bodies, among other factors. The availability of wind is best described by the Weibull probability distribution, which has as one of its defining parameters one which is termed as shape parameter. This parameter is much higher as higher is the variability of the wind speed. This paper studies the subtle influence of Weibull shape parameter on the optimal combination of components in a wind diesel hybrid system, by means of computer simulations with the well known software Homer. The results indicate a relatively small influence (as expected) in the studied system, which appears particularly when the cost of diesel is higher and the availability of wind is lower.