Feasibility Study on the Solar PV-B20 hybrid Powered Water Pumping System (A case study in Robit Village)

Abstract

With the experience of the global energy crisis attempts are being made throughout the world to harness alternate sources of energy. In this respect solar and bio fuel energy technologies stands out as the potential alternatives. Though initially photovoltaic technology was restricted to some special purposes, in recent times with the reduction in price of PV modules it has expanded to variety of common uses. In Ethiopia some PV systems have been installed for rural electrification and for pumping drinking water. Initial investment for this technology is very high, while operation and maintenance cost is very low so the reduction in the initial cost by combining with the bio fuel energy source which have equivalent energy per gallon and lower pollution emission than the conventional petroleum fuel is studied. In this paper several attempts are done to analyze the feasibility of PV-Diesel-Biodiesel hybrid system in comparison with PV-Diesel, Diesel-Biodiesel (B20), and Diesel powered systems. Thus this study provides some guidelines in evaluating the present situation in the context of economic viability and future scopes of PV-Diesel-Biodiesel hybrid technology by performing a case study in Robit Village.