ORIGINAL ARTICLE Optimization of photovoltaic water pumping systems for date palm irrigation in the Saharan regions of Algeria: increasing economic viability with multiple-crop irrigation B. Bouzidi 1 • P. E. Campana 2 1 Centre de De ´veloppement des Energies Renouvelables, CDER, BP 69 – Route de l’Observatoire, 16340 Bouzareah, Algiers, Algeria 2 School of Business, Society and Engineering, Ma ¨lardalen University, 72123 Va ¨stera ˚s, Sweden Received: 10 June 2020 / Revised: 15 September 2020 / Accepted: 8 October 2020 Ó The Joint Center on Global Change and Earth System Science of the University of Maryland and Beijing Normal University 2020 Abstract The Saharan regions of Algeria, which represent almost 90% of the total area of the country, have severe energy problems due to insufficient or lack of energy access. The sustainable development of those areas must aim at securing and increasing primary production, espe- cially in the agricultural and pastoral sectors. The pro- duction itself depends on the supply of water available at great depths. However, the potential volumes of water pumped by photovoltaic water pumping systems are gen- erally greater than the annual requirements for crop irri- gation. In this study, we optimized the photovoltaic array, the storage tank and efficient use of the water produced by the pumping system for the irrigation of one hectare palm grove. This excess water produced was reduced by a judicious association by planting other crops (tomato, wheat and sweet pepper). The utilization rate has been improved from 56% to 86%, on the one hand. On the other hand, the impact of the yield and the prices on the eco- nomic viability was studied. The project is economically viable for a price per kg of date of 500.00 DA and a yield varying from 20 to 50 kg/tree, and the payback period varies from 3.34 to 1.22 years. The project is not eco- nomically viable for a price per kg of date of 100.00 DA/ kg for a yield less than or equal to 30 kg/tree. A sensitivity analysis has shown that the photovoltaic water pumping system becomes more competitive than conventional diesel water pumping systems for diesel price beyond 53.98 DA/l (0.38 €). The results are very encouraging for the wide use of photovoltaic water pumping systems for multiple-crop irrigation in the Saharan regions. Keywords Photovoltaic water pumping systems  Loss of power supply probability  Optimal configuration  Life cycle cost  Payback period List of symbols A Annual worth B a Annual incomes C F Future cost C init Initial cost C n Nominal capacity of the tank (m 3 ) C maint Maintenance cost C repl Replacement cost C t (d) Daily capacity of the storage tank (m 3 ) C u Unit cost of component replacement D r (d) Daily requirement (m 3 ) e 0 Inflation rate (percent) e 1 Inflation cost of replacement components (percent) E hyd Hydraulic energy (Wh) E max Maximum energy converted by the PV array at maximum power point using a MPPT (Wh) g Gravity (m/s 2 ) h Total pumping head (m) i Discount rate (percent) K s Storage coefficient L Number of replacement on the life cycle M 0 Operation and maintenance cost during the first year N Day of the year n Life cycle time (year) N pv Number of PV panel Q(d) Daily volume of water (m 3 ) Q def (d) Daily amount of water deficit (m 3 ) R t Net cash inflow–outflow & B. Bouzidi bouzidibelkacem@yahoo.fr 123 Energ. Ecol. Environ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-020-00195-x