Economic and environmental feasibility of photovoltaic solar energy in industrial processes

Currently, one of the world's concerns, including Brazil, is to obtain answers to reduce energy dependence on fossil fuels. Environmental damage and possible scarcity of fossil fuels highlight the generation of clean energy to reduce environmental degradation. In the present article, it is proposed a model to analyze the economic and environmental feasibility of implementing solar photovoltaic systems in an industry. A case study in Brazil was used to test the model. The selected industrial sector chosen for the installation of the photovoltaic system was the parking lot with an estimated area of 187,653 m2. Regarding economic viability, the calculated net present value was $44,730,630.26, the internal rate of return was 14.52% per year, and the payback time was 132 months. The environmental impacts avoided in the use of the photovoltaic solar energy system were analyzed and the amount of carbon dioxide avoided in the atmosphere per kWh generated with the use of this clean energy showed that 25,381 trees would be needed to fix the CO2 that would be emitted into the atmosphere.