SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY GENERATION IN LANDFILLS CONSIDERING THE DIFFERENTIAL SOIL SETTLEMENT

Abstract

There is growing worldwide concern about climate change, arising mainly from the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One of the sectors that produce the most pollutants is the generation of electricity, a situation that boosted the use of renewable sources. In this context, there is a significant growth of solar photovoltaic energy in the world energy matrix. Among the advantages that justify this growth, we can mention the technological development, which allowed a reduction in the implementation costs of this type of system. At the same time, due to the availability of large areas in landfills whose final activities have been closed, the installation of photovoltaic system becomes a major attraction. Because it is a land with layers of solid waste in its composition, it must be taken into account the instability of this soil. Thus, it is necessary to study the uniform and non-uniform collective deformation caused by changes that affect the properties of these residues over time, that is, the study of soil settlement. To this end, tools are employed that enable its simulation by varying the slope and azimuth of the soil. With the results of these analyzes, the energy loss of the system in relation to the variation of the settlement is identified, observing the maximum energy production in the photovoltaic system, considering the Jockey Club landfill in Brasília-DF as a case study.