Performance evaluation and simulation of a photovoltaic powered water pumping system

One of most important application of solar energy is to utilize it in the field of water pumping. a pv powered water pumping unit was simulated and evaluated for its performance in this study. the system comprised a pv pumping unit (0.75 hp) with a dc motor,electronic controller (dc-dc),solar modules (960 wp) and a submersible pump in a deep well (20 m). the pumping unit started flow when solar radiation intensity was 100 wm-2 and became smooth at 650w m-2. the flow rate of the pump affected when the ambient temperature exceeded above 30°c. pumping performance was best when it was operated at an angle,which was equal to the latitude of site (32°) where the solar pumping system was installed. the simulated results had a good match with the observed values and a correlation coefficient value of 0.944 was obtained. the results indicated that pvsyst simulation program is a good option for design and performance evaluation of a solar water pumping system.