PERFORMANCE OF AN ELECTRIC BUS, POWERED BY SOLAR ENERGY

Resumo

This article makes an energy analysis of the Solar Energy Research and Training Center of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Lab. Fotovoltaica-UFSC), at Sapiens Parque, Florianópolis-SC. The analysis takes into account the recharges of a full electric bus (e-Bus) used to transport researchers between the UFSC main campus and Sapiens Parque. In this study, the energy consumption of the electric bus and the generation of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in the research center were analyzed and evaluated. A data logger is connected to the inverter of the engine to monitor different parameters during the vehicle trips. The e-Bus carries out five trips a day and gets recharged during the 1.5 h break at Sapiens Parque. The monitoring of the e-Bus includes battery state of charge, regenerative braking energy production, consumption of the engine, GPS data and velocity. The evaluation of the data showed that the avg. traveling speed was an influencing factor on the consumption of the e-Bus, while the number of passengers wasn't. The analysis also showed, that the installed PV systems in the Lab. Fotovoltaica-UFSC generated more than 100 MWh in a period of one year (Nov./2016 to Oct./2017), which corresponds to a yield of 1,098 kWh/kWp per year. Since the begging of its operation, in March of 2017, the e-Bus consumption represented 75% of the PV production of the Lab. Fotovoltaica-UFSC.