In visiting the plant we entered the control room and the world of electric energy management was unveiled to each of us. We observed the main control rooms, one of which had a long table for transmission and two long tables for distribution. This control room monitors the power supply to the different cities and when one "hub" doesn't work, the control room sends out maintenance crews to fix it quickly.
The second room we entered explained the different methods that the company used in controlling the power supply monitoring to the cities. They told us about smart-metering which monitors the power and energy quality of the electricity reaching the individual businesses. It also monitors how much energy is used by the individual consumers, allowing the company to know how much to bill the consumer.
After observing the different control rooms we ventured to the solar power plant about 12km away from the control center. The solar power plant was about 1 hectare which is relatively small for a solar power plant, however I quickly realized that this solar power plant is focused more on the research and development aspect of solar power plants rather than the pure harvesting of solar power. The plant had many different sections of solar panels, each with unique properties that were being observed and monitored.
The large group of solar panels that rotate were at about 14% efficiency while the large group of panels that were stationary were at about 9% efficiency. Some of the different things that the company was exploring in terms of the solar panels was the efficiency considering what they were made out of, and their efficiency in relation to the directions they faced. They even had a group of panels that were meant to simulate those which would be put on the roofs of houses and other buildings. We learned that most of their panels had a lifetime of about 23 years and they had to be washed every 2 months otherwise the dust would settle on the panels and decrease their efficiency even more. The solar panels also lose about 0.5% of their efficiency each year as the panels slowly degrade.
One of the things that our plant guides told us is that Brazil does not have many solar panel producers, most of the producers are in China, and thus most plants and people don't know what to do with their panels after they expire. They have to send it back to the producer in order for the panel to be taken apart and either reused, recycled, or thrown away in such a way that our environment does not get damaged too much (because solar panels contain lead which damage environments if not contained). Brazil currently has two producers.
Our tour guide stated that (if I understood this correctly) one of the ways Brazil's government is attempting to create more incentives for power plants to make more solar farms by offering to buy the solar plants from the power companies.
In that area, CPFL also buys energy from another company and transforms it into electricity which it then distributes to the nearby cities and areas. The company also sells the solar power that it generates as well.
At the very end, we got to drive a small little electric car which was an interesting experience. The way it drove reminded me of a prius for it drives very quietly and smoothly. It doesn't accelerate very quickly but it can go up to 75mph. It takes about 1-2 hours to charge the battery and the battery itself looked to be very small in the engine compartment. Since the car was electric it did not contain any engine which saved a lot of space in the car under the hood.
All-in-all it was a very informative and exciting experience to get to see and learn so much about such a power plant and how it works. I definitely enjoyed that experience and I can't wait to see what the rest of the alternative energy excursions will hold for us.
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