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Only in the present decade, Brazil has begun to adopt assertive policies and regulatory tools to stimulate the implementation of photovoltaic (PV) generation systems. Available information concerning the support to PV generation and the behavior of different technologies under the environmental conditions are still scarce. This paper analyzes an existing method to estimate PV energy performance and proposes a new model to evaluate six different types of grid-connected photovoltaic technologies. The proposed model considers PV technological features together with the actual characteristics of the operating settings and climatic conditions of the experiment site at the Lake District, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Results from multiple regression analyses evidence that the existing method is not suitable for PV energy predictions under the environmental conditions of the region. The proposed model was able to obtain satisfactory answers to the tests developed and good results with measurements taken in field. The results endorse the model as a good estimator of energy performance of the six photovoltaic technologies evaluated in the aforementioned region. In addition, it might be used in other types of photovoltaic technologies and in different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]