EN 
PT_BR 
O IFRS (Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul) will launch this Friday (11), your own Energy Efficiency Program.
One of main project fronts and the use of photovoltaic plants, which are in the installation process in 16 campuses of the institution.
A implantation of the plants started in 2019 and has been occurring in stages. It is estimated that, by 2024, IFRS will be producing 65% of the energy it consumes, based on the consumption recorded by the institution in 2022.
To make photovoltaic plants viable, the institution counted on the contribution of a parliamentary amendment from the federal bench of Rio Grande do Sul and resources from the SETEC (Secretariat of Professional and Technological Education) of the Ministry of Education.
O total investment for implementing the plants will be approximately R$ 7 million, and the expectation of the institute is that photovoltaic systems generate a savings of around R$ 1 million per year.
About photovoltaic plants
The technology being implemented in IFRS is automated, without the need to operationalize equipment, and only remote monitoring must be carried out through the frequency inverter database to identify any inappropriate functioning or unexpected shutdown.
The need for maintenance only consists of periodically cleaning the modules and inspecting the electrical connections of the photovoltaic system components.
The units' monitoring system provides generation data and, in some units, these can be crossed with information from meteorological stations, thus generating a set of data for research, teaching and extension actions.
Deployment steps
The first stage of the solar power plants included the installation of photovoltaic modules on the roofs of the buildings of nine units (Alvorada, Bento Gonçalves, Canoas, Caxias do Sul, Farroupilha, Rolante, Rio Grande, Vacaria and Sertão), with 443.52 kWp installed. As a result, in the year 2022, IFRS recorded a reduction of R$ 264.29 thousand in energy expenses.
The second stage began in 2022 and is expected to end in December 2023, including the installation of modules with a total capacity of 1,050 kWp on the campuses Bento Gonçalves, Caxias do Sul, Erechim, Farroupilha, Feliz, Ibirubá, Porto Alegre, Restinga ( Porto Alegre), Rio Grande, Rolante, Sertão, Osório, Vacaria and Veranópolis.
The estimated savings when all plants in this stage are operational is around R$ 650 thousand in the year 2023. SETEC recently confirmed an investment of more than R$ 1.6 million for the acquisition of new photovoltaic plants and, as a result, a third phase of implementation will soon be carried out.
