Irrigation problem
Solar PV water pumps can deliver drinking water as well as water for livestock or irrigation purposes. It may be more beneficial in small scale or community based irrigation, as large scale irrigation requires large volumes of water that in turn needs a large solar PV array. As the water may only be required during some parts of the year, a large PV array would provide excess energy that is not necessarily required, thus making the system inefficient.
Solar PV water pumping systems are used for irrigation and drinking water in India. The majority of the pumps are fitted with a 200 watt – 3,700 watt motor that receives energy from a 4,800 WP PV array. The 5 hp systems can deliver about 124,000 liters of water/day from a total of 50 meters set off head and 70 meters dynamic head. By 6 June 2016, a total of 1,00,000 solar PV water pumping systems have been installed in INDIA.