Is there any point to think of solar pumping in countries where fuel prices are low?
| Answered by The Solar Hub
The Solar Hub
The Solar Hub Official User
Although this will depend on a number of things, it is still possible that there is an economic rationale behind, since the running costs of solar pumping schemes are getting so low. After running sveral economic analysis for solar vs diesel systems in Sudan and Iraq (where diesel can be as cheap as 0.3 usd/ litre) funding solar pumping solutions made still economic sense for most of cases. However, apart from technical and economic feasibility, there are other factors that have to been considered, such as social aspects, access to sites linked to security and logistical constraints, reliability of fuel supplies or electrical grid (if any). A holistically analysis will be required beforehand to see the added value of using Solar technology versus other options.