Optimization of Kalagh Ashian’s Photovoltaic Water Pump System Using a New Proposed Multi-objective Firefly Algorithm

Abstract

In this paper, a new multi-objective optimization method is proposed to determine the optimum capacity of a photovoltaic water pumping system in the village of Kalagh Ashian in Bojnurd. To calculate the optimal structure of the system for the first time, a new multi-objective firefly algorithm, based on the law of attraction and crowding distance, is employed. In this method, by calculating the optimum tilt angle and optimum solar azimuth angle, the maximum output power is achieved. As a result, the volume of water in the system increases, the size of the pumping system is minimized, production costs are reduced, and consequently, the profits from the sale of water rise. Simulation results proved that in the optimized system, in comparison with the non-optimized system, the number of solar arrays is narrowed by 3, while the volume of water produced and the profits from the sale of water are increased by 8 m3 and 6,933,764 Rials, respectively. Furthermore, the initial investment and the payback period are decreased by approximately 19%.