Reducing CO2 Emissions by Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems: A Case Study in the Departamento del Magdalena - Colombia

Abstract

This paper presents projections on the reduction of CO2 emissions through the implementation of off-grid PV systems on 33 farms located in rural areas of the Departamento del Magdalena, where horticultural activities are performed by small local producers. To achieve this, the emission reduction was estimated for a period of 25 years using the installed PV peak power on each farm, data from the Global Solar Atlas, the emission factor in Colombia for electricity generation and information established in the harmonization project of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). In order to compare the estimations, temperature and solar irradiance data were obtained from 10 farms near the installations, located in 8 municipalities within the department. With these data and through mathematical modeling, the energy generated by each PV system and the projection of non-emitted CO2 emissions were calculated. The results obtained demonstrated that, in both cases, the projections for emission reduction are similar, highlighting that the municipalities of Ciénaga and Sitio Nuevo contribute the highest amount of saved CO2 due to the projections of higher energy production in these locations.