International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 2 (2016) pp 950-954 © Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com 950 Economics Analysis of Diesel and Solar Water Pumping with Case Study Water Pumping for Irrigation in Egypt Enas R. Shouman Information System Department, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza, Egypt. E-mail: Shouman28@hotmail.com E.T. El Shenawy Solar Energy Department, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza, Egypt. E-mail: essamahame@hotmail.com M.A. Badr Mechanical Engineering Department, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza, Egypt. E-mail: dr_mabadr@yahoo.com Abstract In rural and undeveloped areas where there is no power grid and more water is needed for agriculture purposes and human uses, the choices for driving water pumps are usually solar via photovoltaic or a fuel driven engine, usually diesel. There are very distinct differences between the two power sources in terms of cost and reliability. The present paper presents an economic analysis of diesel and PV water pumping systems for irrigation purposes at Cairo, Egypt (Lat. 30° 2' 38" North, Long. 31° 14' 9" East). According to the location parameters, the required water demand, unit cost of different components and fuel cost, the study uses the HOMOR software and theoretical equations governing the photovoltaic operation to get the optimal system design and the related economic analysis. The study considered three systems for water pumping; PV only, hybrid PV-Diesel and Diesel only. The study showed the advantages of use photovoltaic energy over that of the diesel generator in terms of the net present cost and the cost of energy. It also concluded that diesel pumps are typically characterized by a lower capital cost but a very high operation and maintenance cost. Solar is the opposite, with a considerably higher capital cost but very low ongoing operation and maintenance costs. Keywords: Water pumping, Diesel generator, Solar energy, photovoltaic, Cost analysis. Introduction Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource and become a major problem in many countries around the world due to water pollution, inadequate flow in some rivers and increase in demand due to growing population, and rapid new rural and urban areas [1]. The world growth of population and the change of land use due to expansion in the agriculture land also increased the need of global fresh water resources [2]. The population growth is the major factor contributing for the increase in global pollution and energy and water consumption [3]. Due to the global pollution, the climate change becomes more prevalent and hence affects on the future availability of fresh water as well as decrease of the rainfall rates [4]. Water pumping is an energy-intensive process and most of the world’s plants are currently powered by conventional energy production. As the costs of fossil fuels increase, their operation becomes increasingly expensive and with the additional costs of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Egypt, developing an electric grid system to rural and remote areas is often too expensive because these areas are frequently located too far away from existing grid lines. Even if fuel is available within the country, transporting that fuel to remote, rural areas can be difficult. There are no roads or supporting infrastructure in many remote areas. Hence, the integration of renewable energy production with pumping water is increasingly attractive. A report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) [5] indicated that the costs of renewable will fall by almost 40 percent in the next two years, and solar energy should reach grid parity in 80 percent of its market by 2017. Egypt possesses a good potential for renewable energy including solar, wind and biomass energy [6]. In the field of solar energy, Egypt lie in the best sun-belt region in the world and Egypt has the highest number of sunshine hours all year round with higher irradiation levels. Fig.1 shows the distribution of solar radiation in Egypt [7]. From the figure, it is clear that higher solar radiation levels can strongly supports the use of solar energy in development plans in Egypt. Figure 1: Distribution of solar radiation in Egypt. Although the agricultural area of Egypt is extended from 33265 km 2 or 7.91 million feddan (3.3% of Egypt area) in 2003 to 37503 km 2 or 8.92 million feddan (3.7% of Egypt