Techno- economic feasibility study of solar water pumping for public facilities in Nigeria

This thesis presents a techno-economic feasibility analysis of solar water pumping systems in public facilities located in rural parts of Nigeria. Three different public facilities namely, a primary health care center in Ibwa (PHC, Ibwa), a comprehensive health care center in Kwali (CHC, Kwali), and the LEA Primary School in Mapa (LEA School, Mapa), all located in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, were analyzed. The facilities considered in the study have varying levels of water demand (micro, small, and medium), and they are used as cases to establish the techno-economic suitability of solar water pumping systems to deliver water at such sites. This study provides a review of challenges associated with the provision of clean water in public facilities in Nigeria and a step-by-step guide to design a solar water pumping system that can be used to provide this water. It also provides a method to optimize the cost of installing these systems with the help of a model and compares the cost of systems in cases where the sizing is determined by a standard design procedure with the cost of systems when sizing is based on an optimization model. The results of optimization identify that the upfront cost of the system can be reduced by 1.5%, 9%, and 23% for PHC, Ibwa, CHC Kwali and LEA School Mapa, respectively. Results of the economic analysis indicate that the cost of water from the solar water pumping system is half of the cost of purchasing water (if these facilities were to procure water from the local water distributors to fulfill their water demand) for CHC Kwali, and four times less for the LEA School, Mapa. However, due to its smaller size, the cost of water from the solar pumping system for PHC Ibwa is about twice the cost of purchased water. A sensitivity analysis on storage capacity, PV array size, and cost of the system highlights the importance of optimizing the relationship between PV array size and storage tank size for a given level of water demand. A system designed and analyzed through a modeling tool can therefore enhance the cost-effectiveness of solar pumping systems at public facilities in rural areas