Economic and Environmental Study of Wineries Powered by Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems in Spain

Daniel Gómez-Lorente, Ovidio Rabaza, Fernando Aznar-Dols and María José Mercado-Vargas
Additional contact information
Daniel Gómez-Lorente: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain
Ovidio Rabaza: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain
Fernando Aznar-Dols: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain
María José Mercado-Vargas: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: This research developed a system that can make factories more independent from the grid. The system enhances efficiency since factory operation is powered by the renewable energy generated during the production process. Winemaking is a key sector that can profit from such a system because wineries can recycle much of the waste from the raw materials employed in wine production. Moreover, the solar energy collected at winemaking facilities can also be used to reduce electricity consumption and thus increase energy efficiency. This study investigated the feasibility of using renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, in wineries in Spain, given the quantity of renewable energy produced in the country. For this purpose, cost-effectiveness, power generation, CO 2 emissions and the renewable energy fraction were taken into account. The assumption was that the photovoltaic system was grid-connected. Research results showed a reduction in electrical power costs ranging from 4% to 36%. This reduction was accompanied by an increase in the use of renewable energy of up to 57%. The results obtained are based on self-consumption or net metering policy as well as the production capacity of the winery.

Keywords: wineries; sustainability; net metering; solar energy; self-consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/2/222/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/2/222/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:2:p:222-:d:90277

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().