Economic Sizing of Photovoltaic Irrigation Water Pumping Systems

Abstract

A key issue arising in developing countries is the availability of water and the ability to access. Solar energy is potentially able to contribute in providing safe water from the deep wells which are far away from the national grid electricity. This work evaluates the efficiency, the energy yield and the total cost of power supply for a pumping system in an agricultural cultivation in Patras, Greece, latitude 380, by two different supply systems, an autonomous photovoltaic system and a grid connected one. Taking into consideration the performance of three technologies of modules (poly-Si, mono-Si and Copper Indium Diselenide) under the particular environmental conditions, an economic PV installation has been chosen. For the purposes of this sizing we have recorded the monthly energy produced for the period of watering which is in agreement when compared to the theoretical one extacted from the PV*Sol program. The PV pumping system consists of poly-Si Sharp NE-80E2E modules, the water pump (Lorentz PS 200 HR) and a watertank of 7 m3 capacity. During the day the load is satisfied directly from the PV generator. The installed power is 160 Wp and the total cost (for drip irrigation during the night saving 70% in water) is ~19% lower than in the case of grid connection.