IMPACT OF USING PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS IN PIGGERY ON GREENHOUSE GASES EMISSION

Abstract

Farm buildings have a large number of unused roofs, where photovoltaic panels may be installed without limiting the agricultural land. In piggeries the largest demand for electricity has the ventilation system. The daily distribution of electricity demand is correlated to the diurnal variation of solar radiation. This allows immediate use the energy produced by photovoltaic panels. The aim of the study was to determine the energy demand of the ventilation system, to design a photovoltaic system for its operation and to determine the CO₂ emission reduction. The research was carried out for the deep-litter piggery located in Poland. The demand for electricity was determined on the basis of three-year measurements of electricity consumption in the studied piggery. The photovoltaic system was designed to power the ventilation system. Mean annual demand was 26046 kWh. The designed PV system has power of 27 kWp (23984 kWh yr^-1). Energy deficits (4591 kWh·yr^-1) were noted for 8 months, and energy surpluses (2528 kWh·yr^-1) for 4 months in a year. The reduction of CO₂ emissions resulting from the use of a photovoltaic system to supply the ventilation system is 19.1 Mg CO₂·yr^-1 and represents 3% of the total greenhouse gases emissions from the piggery, expressed in CO₂ equivalent. It may increase to 8.6% in case of installing the maximum number of PV panels system (maximum power of 78 kWp; total energy production 68526 kWh yr^-1) on the southern part of the roof, but it requires the financial support for renewable energy by the government.

Keywords: PV panels, carbon dioxide emission, farm building, renewable energy

Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.089