# Potential of Photovoltaic Generation in the Putumayo Department of Colombia
## 5 Conclusions  
The Putumayo solar irradiation values taken from the remote databases of the NREL and NASA, when compared with the values calculated with data from the IDEAM meteorological stations, show acceptable ranges in the Amazon region, but the differences are notorious in the Andean and Andean-Amazon regions. This is because the spatial resolutions of remote databases are very large, covering large areas as if they had the same irradiation value, and in these mountainous regions there are a variety of zones and climates. Using less than 30% of the available area of the roofs of the municipal capitals of Putumayo, to install solar panel systems, an effective electricity potential can be generated with which the entire electrical energy demand of the department can be covered. The potential with photovoltaic systems would be adequate to produce electricity for self-generation and distributed generation in the municipalities of Putumayo. In this paper, some models widely used by different researchers are combined, this made it possible to calculate the electrical energy that a photovoltaic solar system can generate. For the photovoltaic solar calculation, the characteristics of the technology, the solar brightness data, the altitude, the ambient temperature and the latitude of the place were considered. As can be seen, mathematical models involving the different variables of the photovoltaic systems were used and rigorous and precise results were obtained. With the municipal results, a total of 277.7 GWh/year can be generated in Putumayo. With the energy produced, it is possible to cover more than what has been consumed in Putumayo in recent years. According to the SUI report, between 2016-2018, Putumayo consumed an average of 68.7 GWh/year, of which more than 7% were ZNI consumption. The average cost of energy in Putumayo in 2016 was USD 0.17/kWh and the average for Colombia was USD 0.14/kWh, according to the SUI report. From to these data, the cost of energy in Putumayo is above the national average and more expensive in the ZNI. With photovoltaic solar system, as discussed in this work, the calculated LCOE of USD 0.10/kWh is still below the reported values for the Putumayo department. Therefore, new sources of energy such as solar photovoltaic offers a great opportunity. The energy costs of Putumayo and Colombia are higher than the LCOE level energy costs globally produced with solar panel systems. According to IRENA the costs of solar energy over the last 10 years has decreased by 82%, and from 2018 as of 2019, it decreased by 13% reaching almost seven cents (USD 0.068) per kilowatt hour (kWh). As can be seen, the energy costs of Putumayo are higher than the average for Colombia, and among the Putumayo municipalities the highest costs are those of the ZNIs. The high costs of energy in Putumayo, the potential for solar irradiation, and the low LCOE of renewable energies, justify investing in solar panel systems throughout Putumayo. The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: R.M.C., L.F.M.N. and F.N.J.G. ; data curation: C.F.L.C. ; analysis and interpretation of results: C.F.L.C., F.N.J.G. and R.M.C. ; draft manuscript preparation: C.F.L.C., L.F.M.N. and F.N.J.G. ; project administration: F.N.J.G. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding. Not applicable. The data presented in this study are openly available in: Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies. IDEAM: [[http://www.ideam.gov.co/solicitud-de-informacion](http://www.ideam.gov.co/solicitud-de-informacion)]([http://www.ideam.gov.co/solicitud-de-informacion](http://www.ideam.gov.co/solicitud-de-informacion)). The Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project. NASA [[https://power.larc.nasa.gov/data-access-viewer/](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/data-access-viewer/)]([https://power.larc.nasa.gov/data-access-viewer/](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/data-access-viewer/)) National Solar Radiation Database.