Performance Assessment of Solar Agricultural Water Pumping System

The solar photovoltaic based agricultural water pumping system is best suited technology for irrigation of farms. The generation of electrical power from Photovoltaic cell is mainly dependent on solar irradiations at respective times. The study reported in this paper deals with characteristic study of existing water pumping system based on solar photovoltaic power and conventional electrical power. Thin film Cd-Te solar panels were used to power 2HP existing water pump. The performance of solar powered water pump was as equal as pump powered by conventional one. The efficiency of solar based water pump is much higher than conventional power based water pump. The maximum flow rate obtained was 69 LPM against 65 LPM for conventional power method. MPPT was used to track best operating point of solar PV array. The outcomes of reported study are important making socio-economic impact on Indian agricultural sector.