Operation and Maintenance Field Experience With Photovoltaic Water Pumping Systems

Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of the failure modes, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, and system lifecycle costs for 77 photovoltaic (PV) water pumping systems installed during a fourteen year period from 1990 to 2004. These systems were supplied, installed, operated and maintained through a customer lease program by two rural utilities, Northwest Rural Public Power District in Nebraska and Verendrye Electric Cooperative in North Dakota. Field records have been tracked and analyzed to capture maintenance events, component failure experience, repair/replacement costs and installation cost histories. The results of these analyses including annual O&M cost, failure rates, and economic comparisons with grid extension options are presented and discussed.

Solutions for adapting photovoltaics to large power irrigation systems for agriculture

“…To this end, he designed and carried out the "Mali Aqua Viva" Project which, in 1981, put 25 pumping systems into operation [4]. After this first experience, many other PV pumping programmes were developed [5][6][7], not only in different regions of África (Morocco [8][9][10], Sahel countries [11] or Western África [12]), but also in North America [13,14], South America [15,16] and Asia [17,18]. A great effort to assure their long-term reliability was made by drawing up good-practice guidelines and technical specifications [19][20][21][22].…”

Contribución al diseño de procedimientos de control de calidad para sistemas de bombeo fotovoltaico

“…Hay referencias 22,83,84 de entre las que destacan el ya citado PRS 85 , que ponen de manifiesto que muchos de los problemas que padecen los sistemas de bombeo fotovoltaico actuales tienen su origen, precisamente, en la parte no fotovoltaica. Era una de las primeras aseveraciones de esta tesis, y éste es el momento en que se comprueba, lamentablemente, su validez.…”