Indicadores de sustentabilidade para sistemas fotovoltaicos conectados à rede elétrica

Abstract

In the context of the search for sustainability in the energy sector, electricity generation from renewable sources presents itself as a solution to face the difficulties of the sustainable development paradigm in the sector, for which it is necessary to combine the continuity of the supply of electricity with the continuity of society’s ecosocio-environmental needs in the short and long term. One of the challenges encountered, however, is to create measurement instruments for sustainable development in its various dimensions, such as sustainability indicators, through which it is possible to quantify human actions and evaluate the efforts made to aim at environmental preservation or mitigation of its degradation. Photovoltaic generation, which represents a promising way to improve sustainability in the energy sector, faces the aforementioned lack of sustainability indicators. The different photovoltaic technologies vary significantly in terms of environmental effects and their levels of sustainability. Therefore, having such evaluation indicators becomes a condition for the sustainable development of this technology. In this context, the aim of this study is to propose a set of indicators for assessing the sustainability of grid-connected photovoltaic systems, selected considering the variables of the urban environmental sustainability dimension. To achieve this aim, data on sustainability indicators applicable to photovoltaic systems were collected through a cross-sectional, interdisciplinary study, supported by bibliographic research of secondary sources. More specifically, this bibliographic research was carried out through a Systematic Literature Review. Thus, a reference framework was developed proposing a set of sustainability indicators for grid-connected photovoltaic systems, categorized into the various dimensions of sustainability. The proposed Sustainability Indicators were then validated by consulting a panel of national experts, via the Delphi Method, with an online questionnaire. The aim is for the set of indicators resulting from this Thesis to become a tool that provides a diagnosis on the subject, supporting the decisionmaking process of the scientific community, but also of policy makers.