Study of technical and financial viability of PV powered water-pumping systems in the Federal University of Ceara

Due to the climatic characteristics, the use of photovoltaic systems has great potential to supply the crescent electric power demand of the Northeast region in Brazil. The continuous development of the photovoltaic technology has reached in the last years a status that has made possible the use of the technology through decentralized facilities. This viability is translated so much in technical terms as economical. The present paper proposes the use high performance PV powered motor-pump units in the Campus of Pici of the Federal University of Ceara-UFC. Motivated by the need of reduction of electric power consumption supplied by the grid, the study makes the analysis of the investment.