Sizing of PV Based Power Supply for Irrigation System – Application in Sandanski, Bulgaria

The paper presents an approach for sizing of the power supply for pumping system using PV panels. The sizing follows an appropriate algorithm containing primary potential estimation, PV energy yield calculation, study of the irrigation system, selection of appropriate pump and converter, estimation of the pumped debit, application of operation strategy, taking into account the agricultural crop, and calculation of different parameters for qualitative analysis. Different criteria are considered to determine the optimal configuration of the irrigation system - installation cost, missed for pumping debit and days with incomplete irrigation. The proposed algorithm is applied to the site of Sandanski, Bulgaria for two different agricultural crops. The results show the advantage of the PV based power supply for remote areas.