On the field performance of PV water pumping system in Libya

This paper presents the measured performance of an experimental PV water pumping system of 1200Wp installed in the north-east of Libya. Both the monthly and hourly measured data of the system performance are presented and analised, and the over-all system efficiency has been calculated as monthly and daily averages. The monthly average output of the system has been estimated and compared with measured data. The economic analysis of the system has been carried out and the specific water discharge cost (SDC) has been determined, the obtained SDC was very competitive with the published SDC of the PV water pumping projects in some countries. The obtained results have demonstrated the technical and economic feasibility of using the PV systems for water pumping especially in the remote areas of high potential of solar insolation.(author)