COSTOS DE GENERACION DE ELECTRICIDAD FOTOVOLTAICA EN BOLIVIA Y BARRERAS PARA SU EXPANSION

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present a rapid assessment of costs of photovoltaic power generation, for isolated systems and connected systems to the network and analyze the barriers hampering their expansion in the rural and urban areas of Bolivia. Methodologically shows the context of the Bolivian electricity sector, its composition and estimates of growth, urban and rural coverage, and the presumed involvement for renewables in the energy matrix. We analyze the potential of solar radiation available for the country, the product of a research project of the Universidad Mayor de San Simon, which uses models with satellite databases and corroborated by spot measurements in different parts of the country. With this information we calculate the electricity generation alone PV systems and power generation for a grid network of 2.7 kWp. Using information from the latest tenders held in Bolivia in 2012, is structured base price of equipment, which allows calculating the cost of photovoltaic electricity at different scales and scenarios and comparison with current electric tariffs. A brief inventory of the main barriers to the expansion of PV, after an analysis of legal and regulatory framework proposes a series of recommendations, which could motivate the introduction of PV installations massively in both isolated and interconnected to the network. Finally the paper concludes that, given the importance of photovoltaic in the urban and rural Bolivia is important to work on regulatory schemes, legal and financial resources to enable the expansion of this technology in a sustainable manner, without neglecting the need for training resources trained human in this area.