CPFL, Bosch, EnerSolar, & Henry Borden

On Tuesday morning we took a bus to CPFL Energia, a solar power plant in  Campinas.  This facility runs experiments on different technologies for solar panels, such as testing stationary vs. mobile (solar tracking) solar panels. I was surprised to find out that the CPFL facility & office buildings (a ways down the road from the solar panel farm) isn't powered by their solar panels. Seems contradictory to me.

Angled to resemble a roof

Do the solar panel!

Anemometer - when wind velocities surpass a certain speed, this meter will
tilt the solar panels to the neutral position as to avoid disasters

Control panel for a section of the solar panels

Some work has been done (not by CPFL) on putting solar panels on the backside of stationary systems. This would collect energy from the sun's rays that don't hit the front of the panel and instead are reflected off of the ground. Looking at the picture below, it seems as though that may be a smart idea - it may significantly increase the amount of energy collected while also preserving land.

The mobile solar panels (seen above) are run on an automated system. A timer switches them on at 5:30AM every day. Every 5 minutes the panels rotate to the ideal angle for catching the optimal amount of rays. Then they're switched off after sunset and return to the neutral starting position. All in all, this facility has some very impressive technologies! 

Tuesday afternoon we visited Bosch, a company that develops technologies for Flex Fuel engines. Flex fuel, a mixture of ethanol and gasoline, can be anywhere between 5% ethanol (E5) and 100% ethanol (E100). Ethanol is less efficient than gasoline, but better for the environment. Growing the sugar cane used to make ethanol lowers the net carbon dioxide emissions for using ethanol as fuel.

            Not many people know about flex fuel in the USA. Since ethanol is produced form corn and not sugar cane,  the process is much longer and more expensive. However, most gas stations in the US pump gas that has some percentage of ethanol mixed in. While it is usually a maximum of 10% ethanol, cars with flex engines can handle up to E85. Here in Brazil E100 is a viable fuel option, but due to the different climate and lower temperatures the USA can only use a maximum of E85 in cars with flex engines.

Wednesday we attended the second annual EnerSolar Brazil conference on solar energy technologies. 

Team Dino-Scavenge!  

There were some really innovative and interesting technologies there. One of them, a solar thermal water heater, was partially disassembled for us. It uses heat from the sun to heat a copper rod located inside each tube. The copper rod will then either transfer heat to water inside the tube or will transfer heat to water held in the top section.

Looks like this when installed on a roof

We're standing on a solar panel!

Thursday was spent at Henry Bordon, a hydroelectric plant built in 1926. At time of inauguration the plant contained eight generators, driven by turbines with a natural water supply of the Tietê River. In 1956, an additional six generators were installed in the Serra do Mar caves. Hydroelectricity is a large producer of renewable energy in both Brazil and the USA.

Model of the turbines used

One of the generators

Into the caves!