The Use of Battery Bank for Rationalization of Electricity in Broiler Poultry Farms

Electricity is one of the main inputs used in poultry production. An aviary needs electricity to feed the various motors and electrical devices that compose the lighting systems, exhaustion, heating, food, among others. Aiming to give incentives to producers of broiler chickens, specifically in the state of Paraná, Brazil, in 2007, the Night Poultry Program was implemented, in which the government grants discounts in electricity tariff for poultry farmers at night. In this work it was proposed two energy storage systems through the use of lead-acid batteries and batteries of nickel chloride and sodium to feed the of charge of four brazillian aviaries over one year of poultry housing. For this purpose, it was evalueted the use of a bank of batteries in higher tariff, period comprising the time of 9-30 pm to 6 am of the next day, and charging the battery bank in reduced tariff period. The experiment was conducted using the electricity meters installed in the aviaries, weekly data of each aviary were collected and the active energy values, obtaining the data for six lots corresponding to a year of poultry accommodation. From the total consumption of active energy, it was calculated the average daily electricity consumption (kWh) for the set of aviaries. This value was used as input for the sizing of the battery banks. The two proposed storage systems demonstrate an alternative to energy supply for the rural areas, however the economical analysys indicates inviability, since the initial investment of the banks of batteries is high compared with the costs avoided with electricity by using these systems.