Estudo de viabilidade de estação de bicicletas elétricas compartilhadas recarregadas via tapete gerador como alternativa ao transporte urbano de Fortaleza

Abstract

For trips up to 5 kilometers, bicycles are the type of transport that takes the least amount of time taken to move, being a strong alternative in the face of traffic congestion in urban centers. Despite saving time, the use of a common bicycle can become a stronger physical exercise, causing fatigue and sweating. On the other hand, the electric bicycle appears to bring greater comfort and less effort when pedaling, allowing people of any age and physical condition to use it without major problems. Noticing that the city of Fortaleza has not explored the advantages of electric bicycles in shared stations, this work carried out a technical feasibility study for the implementation of a shared electric bicycle station that works with a hybrid model of energy generation, where its off-grid part uses a new concept of renewable energy source through an energy harvesting floor, with the aim of improving the quality of this transport service to the citizens of Fortaleza and guaranteeing its sustainability. The methodology consisted of quantifying the daily energy demand to be met, in kWh per station, proposing equipment, suggesting a circuit for off-grid generation that uses a battery bank, calculating the size of the harvesting floor for a condition of daily movement of people, stipulate the acquisition costs of the station's equipment and bicycles, and stipulate the costs of preventive maintenance over the years of use. The daily energy production per station totaled 7 kWh, requiring 320 blocks of the harvesting floor and daily movement of 7500 people to meet the demand. The results revealed a total implementation cost of R$ 310,776.78 per station, with 15 bicycles of 350 W of power each. The return on investment is expected in about 2 years and 8 months after the station starts operating. A comparison was made of the cost of implementing the station using a harvesting floor against the use of solar energy and energy from the grid, where it was found that the first option technology is the most expensive among the three. Finally, it was noted that the major obstacle of this concept is the low generation of energy per step on the floor, showing the importance of further research by the academic community on this little explored concept that can be promising in the future.