Performance analysis of photovoltaic based submersible water pump Shiv Lal, Pawan Kumar, Rajeev Rajora Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajasthan Technical University Kota, India Email:shivlal1@gmail.com Abstract: The performance of a photovoltaic (PV) array based water pumping system situated at Kota Rajasthan (25.18 N and 75.83 E), India has been studied. A 2hp DC motor with 2200W (10 panels of each 225W) have been used for discharge 30 m water head. The maximum discharge logged 163litre/minute between 11AM to 2PM at PV power output between 75 to 85W/m 2 and the system is operating approximately 8 hours in the of November of the winter season. The full day discharge has found 70995litre and it is more than the average discharge given by the manufacturer at 50m depth. It is revealed that PV array based water pumping system is suitable and feasible option for off-grid and drip irrigation system like the interior area of Kota, where clear sky days are more than 250 in a year. Keyword: PV system, submersible pump, energy conservation solar insolation etc. Nomenclature:  ௜ Input power in W ܫ ௦ Solar radiation in W/m 2 ܣ ௖ Effective module cell area in m 2  ௢ Photovoltaic array output power in W  D.C. output voltage in Voltage (V) ܫD.C. output operating current in A  ௛ Hydraulic power output of the pump in W ߩWater density in kg/m 3  Specific gravity in m/s 2  Water discharge m 3 /s ܪTotal pumping head in m ܧ ௔ Array efficiency ܧ ௦ Subsystem efficiency ܧ ଴ Overall efficiency MNRE Ministry on new and renewable energy e.m.f. Electromagnetic field DC Direct current GOI Government of India Shiv Lal et al. / International Journal of Engineering and Technology (IJET) ISSN : 0975-4024 Vol 5 No 2 Apr-May 2013 552