Techno-economic analysis of solar photovoltaics and solar thermal energy integration in a chilean brewery

The brewery industry has an extensive energy consumption which is mainly supplied by fossil fuels (heating) and electricity (cooling). The unique solar resource available in Chile offers the opportunity to supply the brewery demand with solar technologies. The present study assesses the integration of both solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technologies into a Chilean brewery (Cervecera Guayacán), which will be relocated in order to increase five times its current production. Three different scenarios of solar heat integration with flat plate collectors were technoeconomically studied. The best scenario presented a compound payback of seven years and a LCOH of 0.104 USD/kWht to supply 79 % of the hot process water. The brewery currently has a 20 kWp photovoltaic (PV) plant that supplies partially the electricity needed by the brew hours. In this study, five different scenarios, which consider moving (to the new location) and/or increasing the area of the PV system have been assessed. The results show that the best economic option would be the movement of the current PV plant which has a payback of almost 4 years and a LCOE of 0.022 USD/kWhe, it would supply 38.5% of the total electricity consumption. If more PV integration wants to be achieved, LCOE values around 0.043 USD/kWhe and paybacks of 7 to 12 years are obtained.