Scenarios for solar energy applications in Brazil

What is it about?

Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment is a project financed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) aiming to provide reliable data of the solar and wind energy resources. During the project a satellite-derived solar radiation mapping of Brazil was made, and obtained results were organized in maps of monthly average daily sums. These maps were georeferenced and added to a database including other geographic and socio-economic data. In the present work, this dataset is used to simulate different scenarios for solar energy applications. Solar hot-water, PV-systems and concentrated solar power plants were discussed in terms of the solar energy resource and potential market. The results show a large potential for all studied applications, highlighting some very economically attractive conditions.

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