Análisis de sistemas híbridos de generación fotovoltaica y recolección de agua lluvia para aplicaciones agroindustriales : diseño y evaluación de estructuras de soporte de paneles fotovoltaicos que mejoren la captación de agua de lluvia en la ciudad de Quito.

Abstract

Ecuador's economy has a strong reliance on the agricultural sector. However, most of the current agricultural production doesn't achieve high yield levels. A fundamental requirement to increase these yields is irrigation. Studies have determined that irrigation with warm wáter provides better benefits for the plants. Moreover, the pumping of irrigation water also consumes significant amounts of energy. This project aims to design and analyze a hybrid system that enables capturing the water required for cultivation from precipitation and utilizing a photovoltaic system to meet the energy demand for both pumping and heating the irrigation water. For the system design, it was necessary to consider the photovoltaic panel system and rainwater harvesting system together. This was carried out in two phases: the experimental phase, in which a module was defined to measure water temperature and Surface temperature of a single panel; and the analytical phase, in which, based on the experimental results, an approximation of the system was developed for a specific agricultural area to accommodate a panel array. The results indicated that the water could be heated up to 31°C during the sunniest hours of the day. This temperature gain falls within the range that literature has suggested for improving crop performance. In this regard, the proposed design, which employs renewable energy and captured rainwater, could be beneficial for shade crops.