A review on the complementarity of renewable energy sources: Concept, metrics, application and future research directions

Solar energy is one among the freely available clean forms of renewable energy. Many technologies have been developed in India for extracting energy from assorted renewable energies, but the maximum extraction of thermal energy from solar energy is the most promising challenge. This paper focuses on the performance and efficiency of solar parabolic trough collector. It also reviews the pertinent applications of solar energy such as air heating system, desalination, refrigeration, industrial heating purposes and power plants. This paper will be useful for researchers concentrating on solar energy using parabolic trough collector.

A review of solar parabolic trough collector

The technology of photovoltaic power generation has been increasingly regarded in many countries as an alternative to reduce the environmental impacts associated with climate changes and dependence on fossil fuels. Countries such as Germany and other European countries have been developed specific regulatory mechanisms to encourage its use either by government programs or by financial and/or tax incentives. In Brazil, despite the large existing solar potential, the encouragement to technology is still incipient. This paper aims to demonstrate the key aspects of the evolution of regulatory incentives to use photovoltaic solar energy in Brazil and present the technologies and characteristics of photovoltaic power generation.

Economic overview of the use and production of photovoltaic solar energy in brazil

Energy production from renewable sources is already a reality in many countries, and with that, different strategies for incentivizing investments in renewable energy generation have been proposed and used over the years. In this study, long-term policies that have been applied in several countries, such as feed-in tariffs, shares with commercialization of certificates, auctions, and net metering, are overviewed and discussed. The main advantages and disadvantages of these incentive strategies are emphasized, focusing on applications. Some of these strategies that have already been applied in Brazil are analyzed in greater depth, emphasizing the potentialities and fragilities of these mechanisms observed within the country. Even though it is a country that stands out in relation to other Latin American countries regarding electricity generation from non-hydro renewable sources, Brazil still faces barriers that prevent a utilization compatible with its potential. Moreover, the trend for renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, is to represent an energy capacity reserve to cover hydrological risks and also to contribute to a distributed generation spread through electricity distribution networks.

An overview of incentive policies for the expansion of renewable energy generation in electricity power systems and the Brazilian experience

The impact of complementarity on power supply reliability of small scale hybrid energy systems

The objective of this research is to analyze the effectiveness of wind power and solar energy to supply electricity to the grid during peak demand periods in the Northeast of Brazil. To achieve this objective, a comparative analysis is performed between the electricity load curve for a typical year and a typical day and statistical data for wind speed and solar irradiation. The results obtained indicate that correlations exist and renewable energy can help support regional temporal demand in the existing electricity grid in an efficient and more environmentally friendly manner than fossil fuel power plants. Another interesting finding was the complementarity between hydroelectricity (the region's main energy resource) and wind and solar energy. That is, in the months of the dry season (when the cost of energy is more expensive) there is a greater availability of wind and solar energy. This makes investments in these two renewable sources more economically viable and also helps to diversify the electricity grid power supply, securing it against the effects of droughts.

P. de Jong

Papers

Solar and wind energy production in relation to the electricity load curve and hydroelectricity in the northeast region of Brazil