Feasibility Study of RE Simulation Software: A Comparative Financial Study between Enhanced PV Solar technology and Diesel based Irrigation System

Md Rabiul Islam, Md.Moslem Uddin, Atik Faysal, Pronob K. Ghosh

Bangladesh is an agricultural country. One-third land of this country is in off-grid area which force farmers to use diesel for irrigation purpose. Several research works show that PV Solar technology is useful for irrigation system rather than conventional fossil fuels using various simulation software. But the ambiguities arise to select simulation software for techno-economic analysis. This study identifies the effectiveness of RE simulation software for techno-economic analysis and compare the benefits between PV Diesel and solar PV based water pumping system. The efficacy of mostly used RE simulation software will be analyzed to study financial feasibility of solar PV based water pumping system comparing to Diesel based system assuming a practical project in Bangladesh (a Bangladeshi farm named “Rajshahi Krishi Khamer”). This farm is now using Diesel based water pumping system for irrigation. Two contemporary and essential software, HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) and RETScreen are used to demonstrate the case studies. Some important issues about solar as well as Diesel based water pumping system are taken into consideration to accomplish this research work. The proposed studies also count the technical and environmental effects and eventually, address alternative sources of electric power generation.