Agro Fossil Free - Investment analysis of a solar water pumping system in rural areas in Jordan

Opis ogólny

Several photovoltaic applications, especially of water pumping systems, have been introduced to contribute to the socioeconomic development in Jordan. This paper shows the achievability of utilizing photovoltaic (PV) modules to power water pumps in an assigned irrigation system in the Mafraq desert, Jordan. The irrigation system is built for an olive tree farm with an area of 50 km2. The 91-kW photovoltaic system cost is around 63,000 USD, and the results of the analysis showed that the system generated energy savings of a little over 16,000 USD. The return on investment was calculated to be around 26% and the payback period was estimated to be 61 months. The system will start generating revenues after year 5. Further, an evaluation of carbon dioxide emmission was conducted and it was found that the photovoltaic system will cut down the annual emissions of carbon dioxide by 2.12 tons/year. The utilization of this PV-irrigation system will almost certainly add to the socioeconomic development and it is considered one of the proposed solutions for the Jordanian farmers.