International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering 2020; 9(4): 49-68 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijepe doi: 10.11648/j.ijepe.20200904.12 ISSN: 2326-957X (Print); ISSN: 2326-960X (Online) Simulation of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System for Small Scale Irrigation and Rural Electrification by Using PVsyst: Case of Madhicho, W/Harerghe, Oromia, Ethiopia Mohammed Aliyi * , Nade Nuru Institute of Technology, Oda Bultum University, Chiro, Ethiopia Email address: mohammedaliyi610@gmail.com (M. Aliyi) * Corresponding author To cite this article: Mohammed Aliyi, Nade Nuru. Simulation of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System for Small Scale Irrigation and Rural Electrification by Using PVsyst: Case of Madhicho, W/Harerghe, Oromia, Ethiopia. International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering. Vol. 9, No. 4, 2020, pp. 49-68. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepe.20200904.12 Received: August 26, 2020; Accepted: September 21, 2020; Published: October 12, 2020 Abstract: Energy is one of the key factors for development of the country, and it can gain from different sources, but some of these sources are not environmentally friend, expensive and difficult to transport; like fossil fuel. Using solar energy is the best option to solve this problem. The objective of this study is Simulation of Photovoltaic water pumping system for small scale irrigation and rural electrification by using PVsyst soft-wares. The people living in grid connected system use electric powered pumping or diesel generator for pumping water, but people living in rural off-grid area can't get electric powered pump. Therefore this problem would be solved when they use solar photovoltaic pumping. In this work Madhicho is study area of this study is done at 9.14° latitude and 40.75° longitude. In this study analysis of PV water pump by using PVsyst or RET Screen Expert. Most of the time the major problem of solar PV water pumping system technology has been the wastage of energy in idle manner without using energy which is only used for target of specific purpose and time but in this research when no need of irrigation, the systems require batteries to store the sun’s energy for use during summer periods. Total quantity of water required for irrigation is 145125liter per day the Pump power that can able to pump water from well to storage tank is 20kw the number of PV module to satisfy pump power is 55 and total energy produced from solar panel 22kw. Solar PV water pumping system can be reliably used at where absence of continuous local grid available where as solar PV and battery storage need is critical Keywords: Solar PV System, Water Pumping System, PVsyst, Battery 1. Introduction Energy is the ability to do work and essential to mankind as he makes use of it in his daily life. It is one of the indispensable factors for continuous development and economic growth. The demand of energy is increasing rapidly in the developing countries due to automation, industrialization and urbanization. The growing population and technological developments have shown that the present sources of energy in use are not adequate. Some energy sources are not environmentally friendly, expensive and difficult to transport; like fossil fuel. Some energy sources are friendly with environment like wind energy, solar energy. Ethiopia has huge potential for solar energy because it is located near the equator with an average daily solar radiation of 5.25 kWh/m 2 [1] Many researches done on Photovoltaic using for water pumping which used for drink, irrigation, livestock, wash and etc. [2] proposed a ‘switched-mode’ PV- powered pumping system. But in Ethiopia water pumping requirement for irrigation is not constant in all season. As Ethiopia water pumping requirement for irrigation is start from November up to April and exchanging product also has high value in this season. The objective of this study is using solar energy for other purpose during no need water pumping requirement in summer (kiremt) season by using battery storage of pv for multi-purpose such as milling, refrigerator, television. The Ethiopian rural area demand water for crop irrigation