DEVELOPMENT OF A STRUCTURE TO SUPPORT PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS

Although in recent years there has been an increase in the use of alternative energy sources, the costs of implementing and operating these systems are still high.

The purpose of this work is the study of a system for generating energy from sunlight with low operating cost. In order to verify the potential of a floating support for solar panels with an innovative arrangement to capture greater solar incidences throughout the day.

In order to achieve the objective of the research, the following steps were carried out, bibliographic research of the existing panels and supports, followed by a study of the calculations of loads versus use of solar radiation per m² of the solar panel depending on their positioning, definition of the calculation procedure to manage the possible structural formats in order to obtain the best use per occupied area.

As a result of this project, it is expected that solar plants will be offered that are cheap and low-maintenance, therefore simple to operate, so that they can be used in places lacking economic resources.

The project presents as a result the path taken by the sun in the city of Rio de Janeiro, the location chosen for analysis, the shape of the base structure and arrangement of the solar panels and the results of structural and dynamic analysis of the support.