UFPR (Universidade Federal do Paraná) developed and will be leading the installation of a photovoltaic project in Curitiba (PR) with OPVs (Organic Photovoltaics), or photovoltaic films organic. They will be installed at bus stops, called tube stations, in the city.
OPVs are materials made from polymers that act as silicon photovoltaic modules to generate electrical energy, but they are light and flexible, so they do not alter the station's architecture.
“The roof surfaces of the two tube stations will be glued with several OPV panels, connected in parallel and subsequently to an inverter”, explains Lucimara Stolz Roman, project coordinator at UFPR.
According to her, the energy generated will be used for consumption by the station itself, with the opening and closing of doors, use of the elevator, lighting and charging points for cell phones. When the electricity generated is greater than the station's demand, it will be distributed on the public grid.
Those chosen for the installation of the OPVs are the Itajubá tube stations – one towards the center and the other towards the neighborhood. “There will be two systems with different powers. The number of cells [installed at each station] will also be different. The electrical project is currently being studied”, says Roman, clarifying that some technical definitions for the installations are still missing.
The project arose from the doctoral study of physicist and Science and Technology analyst, Anna Gabriela Tempesta, supervised by Roman, in the Postgraduate Program in Engineering and Materials Sciences at UFPR.
The University will remain responsible for the project and will monitor the acquisition, installation and energy efficiency of the photovoltaic cells. The team formed by Roman, Tempesta, a post-doctoral student and an intern will also validate the best option that should be adopted by Curitiba.
“The team will be responsible for frequent monitoring visits to the tube stations to evaluate the electrical properties and validate the installations”, shares the project coordinator.
The installation project was proposed by UFPR to Ippuc (Institute of Research and Urban Planning of Curitiba), with a contract being signed between the parties that defined the guidelines of the initiative. The project began in December 2021 and will last 13 months, with installation scheduled to take place between March and April 2022.
The next actions on the schedule are the purchase of solar cells and the beginning of the bidding processes to hire the company that will be responsible for the electrical installation and also the solar panels in the tube stations.
“Allied to the technical schedule, the team will carry out scientific dissemination work on the use of photovoltaic panels, their properties and different materials associated with this clean energy technology”, concludes Roman.
Research project
UFPR had previously received a tube station to carry out its research and continue with the proof of concept before the project was expanded to other stations in Curitiba.
“The station was installed at the Polytechnic Center. Next, organic solar cells received as a donation from a company were attached. The DiNE laboratory carried out all electrical and off-grid installation and evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the technology”, recalls the coordinator.
She reinforces that the new project underway with Ippuc will be different from the one installed at the Polytechnic Center tube station. While this uses an off-grid system with stationary batteries, the Itajubá tube stations will operate with an on-grid system, connected to the public grid.
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