Análise da composição físico-química da sujidade de plantas fotovoltaicas: estudo de caso para Fortaleza

Abstract

With the growth of the Photovoltaic (PV) sector, studies that seek to increase the efficiency of PV modules and analyze the factors that impact their performance have been intensifying. Soiling is one of the parameters that negatively interferes with the performance of the modules, whose impact depends not only on the amount of accumulated soiling, but also on the chemical and physical composition of the dirt. Thus, this article aims to analyze the physical‑chemical composition of soil samples collected from two PV plants located in the urban area of Fortaleza‑CE. In the analysis, the techniques X‑Ray Diffraction (XRD), X‑Ray Fluorescence (FRX), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) are used to characterize the soiling. Through the DRX, the crystalline phases identified are: SiO2, Fe2O3, KAl2 (AlSi3O10) (OH)2, NaCl, CaCO3 and C6H8O6. With the use of FRX, the elements found with the greatest representativeness are: aluminum (8.87% in plant 1 and 10.30% in plant 2), silicon (36.67% in plant 1 and 40.23% in plant 2 ), iron (19.55% in plant 1 and 17.28% in plant 2) and calcium (18.27% in plant 1 and 17.18% in plant 2), which is common in areas close to avenues with great vehicle flow. Using SEM, it is seen that the average particle size is in the micrometer scale and from the EDS technique it is seen that in addition to the elements found by the FRX, there is also the presence of the elements carbon (C), oxygen (O) and sodium (Na) in the samples.