Feasibility of Utilizing Photovoltaics for Irrigation Purposes in Moamba, Mozambique

Sustainability

Armando C. Oliveira¹  Rui Esteves Araújo²  Arsénio José Mindú³  Jó António Capece³ 

[1] INEGI, Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal;INESC TEC, Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal;Physics Department, Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics, Pedagogical University of Maputo, Maputo 1102, Mozambique;

关键词: photovoltaics;    energy;    water;    irrigation;    agriculture;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su131910998

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Agriculture plays a significant role in the labor force and GDP of Mozambique. Nonetheless, the energy source massively used for water pumping in irrigation purposes is based on fossil fuels (diesel oil). Despite the water availability and fertile soils in Moamba, Mozambique, farmers struggle with the high cost of fuels used in the pumping systems. This study was sought to analyze the feasibility of utilizing a solar photovoltaic system as a means to reduce the environmental impact caused by the diesel pumps and simultaneously alleviate the expenses regarding the use of non-environmentally friendly technologies. Site observations and interviews were undertaken in order to obtain local data regarding the water demand, current energy systems costs and distances from the source to the irrigated fields. CLIMWAT 2.0 was used for climate data acquisition and analysis. The environmental benefits, the cost effectiveness and local climate conditions show that the PV system is feasible in Moamba. Furthermore, parameters such as hydraulic energy, incident solar energy, pump efficiency and total system efficiency were used to predict the performance of the system. The results obtained are important to analyze the implementation of such energy systems.

【 授权许可】

Unknown