Solar photovoltaics pumps operating head selection for the optimum efficiency

Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping (SPVWP) systems have established their potential as the most dependable and economically viable systems compared to the diesel based or grid-based electrical pumps. This paper presents an in-depth investigation of the energy efficiency of SPVWP system based on solar radiation, temperature, and operational heads. The study also identifies the shortcomings in the conventional design method based on Best Efficiency Point (BEP) concept that is applicable only in case of fixed frequency and voltage type pumps. However, in the case of SPVWP systems, due to variations in the solar intensity, ambient temperature, and water head, BEP concept does not offer the best efficiency design. The study experimentally proves that the model based on weighted system efficiency and Solar Operational Duty Head (SODH) increases the performance of SPVWP system (∼9% gain) and is consistently provide higher efficiencies in any season or under any climatic conditions