Sustainable energy systems: Mini-production with solar photovoltaic energy in Portugal

Abstract

This work addresses the progress in the implementation of decentralized energy production systems, namely, photovoltaic mini-production which, for the last years, has imposed its position on the Portuguese Energy Market. As a way to help the investor in the calculations of the profitability of mini-production units, a program developed in MatLab ® is presented in order to analyze all the parameters of the legislation related to this energy production technology. In this program, the producer is able to perform several simulations according to different input conditions (e.g.: initial investment or estimated production). The obtained results are displayed graphically where important economical and financial tools are available to assist the user in weighing the pros and cons inherent to solar photovoltaic mini-production. This paper presents an adequate case study that comprises an evaluation of real Photovoltaic mini-production system.