Performance Evaluation of Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping System

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic water pumping system is becoming an important alternative for reducing the usage of fossil fuels and electricity to a large extent. The performance of the photovoltaic (PV) water pumping system situated at Central Farm of AEC&RI, Kumulur, Tamil Nadu (Latitude: 10.93N, Longitude: 79.82E) had been studied. A 5hp DC motor with 3750W (15 panels of each 250W) had been used for a discharge of 20 m head. The system was tested for its performance in terms of variation in discharge due to change in solar output power. It was observed that the PV output power changes from 2435 to 3688 lux at noon conditions. Maximum discharge of 7.33 litres per second was obtained at the time of 2PM. It was observed that pump discharge increased with the output power.