This paper aims to analyze the technical and financial feasibility of a stand-alone photovoltaic powered irrigation system applied to a familiar production unit.The agricultural unit was installed in the Center for Teaching and Research in Urban Agriculture (NEPAU), which operates in partnership with the Alternative Energy Laboratory (LEA), both located at the PICI campus of the Federal University of Ceará.The unit occupies a floor area of 134 m 2 , with a water reservoir that simulates a pond, lake or well with capacity of 3534 liters, a 12 VDC pump motor and a photovoltaic module of 135 Wp.The efficiencies of photovoltaic module, pump and global set were 8.4%, 42% and 3.5%, respectively.The assumed service life is 25 years and the capital returns after 9,3 years.

This paper deals with the design, sizing, and validation of an islanded microgrid to aid agricultural activities of rural communities, in which a water pumping system (WPS), a set of dc electric loads, and an energy storage system (ESS) are powered by solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. In this regard, four operation modes are considered and validated by performing computer simulations, namely: (i) solar PV panels to water pump (PV2WP); (ii) solar PV panels to loads (PV2L); (iii) solar PV panels to batteries (PV2B); (iv) batteries to loads (B2L). Despite being intended for implementation in Marracuene, Maputo, the proposed sustainable islanded microgrid solution must present an easy replicability character, low cost, and power expansion capability, independently of the geographical location. Thus, the main challenges regarding idea conception and social impact are addressed, gathering and analyzing power electronics equipment to mitigate energy poverty, increase the community quality of life (QoL), and respond to its daily needs. Simulations results prove the self-sustainable character of the islanded microgrid, with all the proposed operation modes presenting total independence from the electric power grid and without limitations regarding power flow management.

In developing countries where most population does not have access to the conventional electricity network and depends on agriculture for their subsistence, the agricultural sector has been negatively affected by the low coverage of the national energy network in areas with potential for irrigation. The low index of the population with access to electricity leads to the development of affordable and clean energy for agricultural and domestic uses. Photovoltaic water pumping systems for irrigation (PVWPSI) have been widely used to increase access to energy for irrigation in many countries and several models' design are being developed to improve their performance and deployment. However, during the PVWPSI design, many of the existing models' somehow fail by considering the water demand as constant throughout crops productive cycle. In this paper, a new dynamic mathematical model design of PVWPSI is presented as a guide tool to electrical energy potential assessment for irrigation and supply other energy demands through the horticultural crops water demand characteristic in its different development phases. In this context, a PVWPSI design is made, using as a case study a typical 0.5ha for tomato production in Boane district, Mozambique. The results show that, generally horticultural crops have four development phases. Yet, PVWPSI should be sized according to the crop development phase, whose water demand is maximum. The tomato sizing phase is the flowering, and the daily averages surplus electrical energy in the system in the four tomato development phases, after irrigation, are 5.02 kWh, 2.87 kWh, 1.02 kWh, and 2.55 kWh, that can be saved and redirected to cover other electrical energy needs. (c) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In developing countries, as in Mozambique's case, with about 28.8 million inhabitants, 70% does not have access to the conventional electricity network and 80% depends on agriculture for their subsistence, however, only 5% of the cultivated area is irrigated, and only 1% of the energy from the grid is destined for agriculture. The low index of the population with access to electricity leads to the development of affordable and clean energy for agricultural and domestic uses in accordance with the second and seventh objective of the sustainable development goals. Photovoltaic water pumping systems (PVWPS) have been widely used to increase access to energy for irrigation in many countries and several tools' design are being developed to improve their performance and deployment. However, during the PVWPS design, many of existing tools somehow fail by considering the water demand as a constant throughout crops productive cycle. In this paper, a qualitative analysis of horticultural crops water demand on PVWPS design for irrigation is made. The advancements and opportunities of Mozambique in the adoption of PVWPS for irrigation are also made, exploring the best perspective of transition for Mozambique green energy strategy needs. From the qualitative analysis, the results show that the water demand of horticultural crops is dynamic throughout the productive cycle, which allows a surplus of electrical energy after the irrigation that can be saved and possibly redirected to cover other electrical energy needs. Mozambique has favorable conditions in that regards to the available weather conditions and renewable policy framework in general, in addition to other existent favorable conditions. The Mozambican government may adopt PVWPS for horticultural crops irrigation as a strategy to increase access to energy for irrigation, and as an alternative energy source in order to minimize the high rates of lack of access to energy.

Der Zugang von Elektrizität in Mosambik ist immer noch ein Problem. Zudem haben die Menschen in Mosambik keinen Zugang zu Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT), sowie Einschränkungen bei der Entwicklung ihrer wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Unternehmen. Die vorliegende Arbeit greift aus diesem Grund ein reales Problem auf und macht es zum naturwissenschaftlichen Unterrichtsgegenstand, indem zwei fotovoltaischen Solargeneratoren mit leicht zugänglichen Materialien hergestellt werden. Die Forschungsarbeit verfolgt dabei zwei übergeordnete Ziele: erstens sollen Erfahrungen im naturwissenschaftlichen Disziplin der Physik gesammelt werden; und zweitens soll die Entwicklung von wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Unternehmen in ländlichen und stadtnahen Gebieten gefördert werden. Mit der Laborforschung wurden zwei fotovoltaische Solargeneratoren erfolgreich hergestellt, deren Kapazitäten jeweils 2,4 KWp betragen. Diese sind in technischer, pädagogischer, sozialer, ökonomischer und ökologischer Hinsicht nachhaltig. Die Generatoren wurden erfolgreich getestet, indem 83 Lehrer zu den Themen Physik, Fotovoltaik, IKT und Unternehmertum geschult wurden.

The access of electricity in Mozambique is still a problem. This makes the teaching of Natural Sciences theoretical the example of Physics. In the socio-economic context, people do not have access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and they have limitations to develop their economic and social businesses. Therefore, this research is carried out. Its basic activity consists of manufacture (home-made) two photovoltaic solar generators with materials of easy access for: a. realization of experiences in the discipline of Physics; and b. development of economic and social businesses in rural and peri-urban areas. With the laboratory research, two photovoltaic solar generators were manufactured successfully, whose capacities are 2.4 KWp for each. These are sustainable from a technical, educational, social, economic and ecological point of view. The generators were successfully tested by training 83 teachers on subjects of Physics, photovoltaic systems, ICT and entrepreneurship.

The use of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology for water pumping systems (WPS) has been one of the most popular forms of solar energy application in recent decades in remote and desert areas, as well as in some urban areas.In this article, an advanced literature review on the design and performance of solar technology for water pumping is presented, exploring also the best perspective of transition for the developing countries energy needs.Additionally, this paper intends to analyze the Mozambique's perspective on renewable energy technologies setting the Mozambican scenario regarding photovoltaic water pumping systems (PVWPS) technology with the aim to identifying the main knowledge of PVWPS design and research gap.The results show that the most commonly used configuration of PVWPS technology is direct coupling systems without battery storage.These systems are simple and reliable, mainly used in small-scale pumping for small irrigations and domestic use.The mainly variables that influence the performance of PVWPS are: total dynamic head, quantity of fluid extracted, variation of solar radiation level, PV and motor pump technology.Yet, the efficiency of the PV and overall system does not exceed 10% and 5%, respectively.Looking at the designing, mathematical models, software-assisted is being predominant.Yet, as research gap, it is possible to understand from different authors that the dynamic nature of the end-use of PVWPS is not explored on methodology design of PVWPS, and the techno-economic optimum system configuration is not always the one that gives the highest annual system efficiency.For the Mozambican's context, PVWPS for irrigation have been expanding slowly but have gained expression since 2013.In turn, static models based on software of How to cite this paper: