Aproveitamento de fontes alternativas para redução do consumo de energia elétrica e reflexos nos seus custos

Abstract

Residential consumption accounts for around one third of total energy consumed in Brazil. The electric shower is the main component of this consumption, along with air conditioning. Hence, much research has been conducted in order to reduce the consumption of this sector and the use of alternative energy sources. Among these include mainly solar and geothermal. This thesis aims to establish the bases for assessing the structure of household consumption in order to develop a methodology to reduce power consumption. A prototype was developed in the CEEMA experimental area (UFSM), with the assembly of two prototypes: a solar collector associated with the two types of heating, electric and gas, the other, a geothermal prototype system for surface environments conditioning and pre-heating water. A retrospective on the main alternative to replace the traditional electric shower and air conditioner was conducted as well as ways to reduce heating losses. Practical data were automatically collected to demonstrate the energy efficiency of the studied environment which can be residential, seeking to reduce power consumption and thermal energy and the reflections in the final cost of electric power. The use of thermal sources seen in this thesis was used to demonstrate viable and tangible results in reducing energy consumption and electric power. These results were extrapolated to the region south of the country indicating the possibility of reducing the use of primary energy and, consequently, the conservation of the environment.