An approach to reduce the size and cost of PV panel in solar water pumping

Of late Solar PV generation is finding prominence as a promising renewable source of energy. Water pumping is an important application of solar PV generation. However it suffers from the demerit that the initial cost is quite high which is mainly due to the high cost of PV panels. Present paper proposes a novel approach “Individual Floor Storage Method” for solar water lifting in multi-storied buildings. In this method water is pumped to the required optimum heights thus avoiding wastage of energy. Hence the energy required will be less for a particular amount of water to be lifted. This means there will be reduction in the size of photo voltaic panel and hence in the initial cost. In the present paper, solar pumping proposal without battery backup, is worked out for a house with two floors. It´s found from the tests that with the proposed new approach, PV panel size and panel cost will decrease by 13% and 11.5% respectively.