Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Brazil: Report reveals 10 PV technologies for development

Article published on www.pv-magazine.com, September 12th, 2012
The 10 top technologies industry analysts expect to be developed in Brazil’s photovoltaic sector over the next 15 years have been unveiled in a new study commissioned by the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI).
The study has been designed to help identify focal points for investments that can be targeted with incentives and financing policies sponsored by the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES), the Studies and Projects Finance Organization (FINEP), and relevant federal ministries.
Ten technologies, expected to be commercially viable until 2025 in the world, were pinpointed as "relevant technologies" for development in Brazil’s solar energy sector and were characterized as having "high potential for production in Brazil".
These priority technologies, identified by more than half of the solar energy experts which submitted responses to the questionnaire, belong to the solar energy capture, transformation and grid connection sectors.
Four promising technologies in the solar energy capture sector include: (i) use of metallurgical route for purifying silicon for solar cell production; (ii) application of the Czochralski process for production of silicon ingots; (iii) use of crystalline silicon (monocrystalline and polycrystalline) for manufacturing photovoltaic cells and modules; and (iv) use of horizontal axes with north-south orientation in tracking systems with rotation.
Meanwhile, the 2 most promising technologies in the energy transformation sector are: (i) development of lead-acid batteries with gel; and (ii) development of lead-acid batteries with electrolytes.
In the grid connection sector, the remaining 4 identified priority technologies are: (i) use of self-commutated inverters based on Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) for grid connection; (ii) use of self-commutated inverters without transformers for grid connection; (iii) use of self-commutated inverters with output at low voltage (100 VCA to 400 VCA) for grid connection; and (iv) use of inverters based on pulse width modulation (PWM) for isolated systems.
Implementation of these 10 solar technologies could receive further support from ABDI, which aims to establish a new technological agenda for these industries, according to the study commissioned by the Group of Industry and Competitiveness at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (GIC-IE/UFRJ).
The ABDI study, officially presented at the AbineeTEC forum in São Paulo earlier this month, identified a wide range of emerging technologies in Brazil’s renewable energy generation sector, based on answers received in an online questionnaire filled in by 123 representatives of the renewable energy industry and academic circles.