Performance Evaluation of Micro- and Minidistributed Photovoltaic Systems Using Data Envelopment Analysis

Distributed microgeneration and minigeneration offer a solution for the supply of electricity without the need for large investments. This paper uses the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to verify the performance of photovoltaic systems managed by the population. During the analysis, data were collected on 123 micro- and minigeneration units distributed over an area of 98500 km
²
in the northeast region of Brazil. Using the analysis undertaken in this paper, high dispersions of the performance among photovoltaic systems were verified in Pernambuco because the efficiency levels of approximately 90% of the facilities evaluated can be improved. The analysis sought to understand the factors that have an impact on the good performance of the generating units, in addition to which it identified the generation units that are efficient and that will serve as references for the inefficient units. It is important to emphasize that, although DEA does not directly identify the causes of inefficiency of a unit, it indicates the reference units to be mirrored by the unit, in order to identify the practices to be applied to improve its efficiency level. The systematic method presented in this paper can be replicated and expanded by using a monitoring system in order to guarantee the best way to take advantage of photovoltaic generation in distributed systems, thereby enabling the energy generated to be increased by up to 30%, as shown in this paper.