Design of photovoltaic water pumping system as an alternative to grid network in Oman

Abstract

The agriculture areas in Oman is scattered, thus providing electric power from the grid will be costly. Oman is blessed with high level of solar radiations with a yearly average of 5 kWh/m2/day in most locations. Thus, using photovoltaic as an alternative power source for water pumping is considered one of the promising solutions since the cost of the photovoltaic (PV) module drops dramatically in recent years. The proposed system consists of PV, inverter, AC motor, centrifugal pump and storage tank. This paper presents system design and compares the cost-effectiveness and the Present Value Cost (PVC) for the economic evaluation of power supply for pumping systems in remote areas using two different energy supply systems, namely, photovoltaic systems and grid network. A case study in northern part of Oman is selected to analyze the two pumping systems, which are designed to supply water for irrigation and drinking.