Reliability, cost, and performance of PV-powered water pumping systems: a survey for electric utilities

Opportunities for electric utilities to utilize photovoltaic-powered systems to serve small utility and customer-owned loads have been documented by the Electric Power Research Institute and others. One application where PV-powered systems can save money for utilities and their customers is remote water pumping for ranch, farm, and domestic use. Information on system reliability, cost, and performance is key to utility management decisions regarding this alternative approach to serving their customers. A project was initiated by EPRI to obtain this information on PV-powered pumping systems installed in the western US. With assistance from three PV-pumping system suppliers, a survey was developed and mailed to 251 owners of PV-powered water pumping systems installed in the last five years. This paper presents the summary of the findings of that survey and includes information on owner preferences, system reliability and performance, and cost data. >