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Technical Tests

With the objective of assisting the development of the rural electrification in Brazil and subsidizing the improvement of the regulation related to the service in remote regions, tests were carried out on solar home systems and technical tests on efficient refrigerators at the Cepel (Electric Energy Research Center), with monitoring by Eletrobras, considering the current regulation, which defines the Individual Generation System by Intermittent Source (Sistema Individual de Geração por Fonte Intermitente - SIGFI).

• DC refrigerator test - carried out in 2007, the technical test analyzed the energy consumption of two DC refrigerator models, aiming at an eventual reduction in the cost of service due to the elimination of the inverter in solar home systems. The monthly energy consumption obtained from one refrigerator was 6.0 kWh/month, while the other refrigerator had its test interrupted.

• Refrigerator test in SIGFI20 and SIGFI30 systems - carried out from 2012 to 2014, the test analyzed the consumption of refrigerators powered by solar home systems, in the operating conditions of the Northern region of Brazil. To this end, two photovoltaic solar home systems with guaranteed energy of 20 kWh/month and 30 kWh/month were installed at Cepel, according to SIGFI classification forecast by Aneel's resolution. These systems supplied DC refrigerators (150 liters) and AC refrigerators (252 liters), respectively. The test results showed that the DC refrigerator could reach a consumption of 17.7 kWh/month and the AC refrigerator a consumption of 30 kWh/month. These values make the SIGFI20 and SIGFI30 systems incompatible, respectively, if we also consider lighting and communication loads.
  

• DC refrigerator test - carried out from 2014 to 2015, the test aimed to evaluate the use of compact DC refrigerators commercially developed for buses, in rural electrification projects with photovoltaic systems. The refrigerator had a monthly energy consumption of 19.2 kWh, however, it did not perform well in the classification test at 43°C, as the average temperatures obtained were above acceptable temperatures.

• SIGFI45 and SIGFI60 test, including refrigerators test - tests are currently being carried out to assess the performance of SIGFI systems dimensioned for total monthly loads of 45 kWh and 60 kWh and battery bank autonomy of 48 and 24 hours, respectively. Both systems power AC refrigerators and other loads that simulate the consumption of lighting and communication.