The Feasibility of Photovoltaic and Grid-Hybrid Power Plant for Water Pumping Station in Tabriz-Iran

Energy supply to a regional grid for water pumping systems is sometimes difficult. But utilization of solar energy systems may meet energy requirements for such pumping systems. A pumping station covering an area of 16290 m2 is studied in this research. The station is located in Tabriz city, Iran which has an annual solar insolation of 1884 kWh/m2. The energy need for the pumping station is planned to be provided by an 800 kW photovoltaic (PV) power plant which uses one-axis sun tracker to increase the energy generation. The simulations are carried out using both PVSYST and HOMER software. The proposed PV power plant design has a performance ratio of 83.7%, and the electrical losses and geographic location of the designed area are considered along with the hardware equipment and environmental profits. Simulation results demonstrate that the land and climatic conditions –as the main factors- are strongly suggestible for the implementation and construction of the aforementioned PV power plant that reduces system losses while around 20% emission reduction for SO2, NOX, and CO2 can be achieved.