INNOVATIONS IN SOLAR PUMPING TECHNOLOGIES

SOLAR PUMPS
FOR WATER PLANTS IRRIGATION AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

NEW GENERATION OF SOLAR PUMPING SYSTEMS UP TO 750 HP

30% LESS PVs TO OPERATE PUMPS WITH SOLAR POWER

SOLAROPIA INC. www.solaropia.com

 ABOUT SOLAROPIA SOLAR PUMPING INVERTER-CONTROLLER (SPI)
Solaropia SPI represents a new generation of solar pumping systems that directly operate pumps up to 750 HP
from Solar PV arrays. It does not need use of the grid during day time pumping and automatically switches to
hybrid mode (Solar and AC power) during non-daylight hours or early morning when used in 24/h operation.
These systems can operate all types of industrial pumps in any application: city scale water plants, sewage plants,
large RO plants and irrigation and industrial pumping. SPI embeds five systems in one: Solar Power Inverter,
Solar VFD, Pump PLC Application Controller, Pump Communication Controller and Pump Protection and
Operation Controller. It is a ‘ready-to-install-and-operate’ heavy duty industrial solar pumping system; first in its
class of solar pumping systems that meet vigorous industrial pumping requirements operating in any climate
conditions.

Solar DC 3phase- AC

EFFICIENT SOLAR PUMPING

Conventional solar inverters (Off and On Grid) are not suited to operate pumps – they would need four separate
components (Solar Inverter, Transformer, VFD, and Pump Controller) which translates into 20%-30% of solar
power looses. SPI solar pumping technology operates pumps directly from PV plants - it eliminates power
conversion loses and eliminates extra equipment costs (see the diagram below). Overall, SPI technology reduces
PV requirement by 20% and the solar equipment needs for pumping by 40% .

Solar DC Direct to SPI

Solar Inverter Transformer VFD

3 Phase AC

SPI eliminates all

these systems to
operate pumps

BB GRID Pump
Controller
2014 Energy Globe Recipient

AWARD WINNING TECHNOLOGY

In 2014, SPI systems were awarded the Prestigious Energy Globe Organization Award for efficient water pumping
solar technology and its wide applications in RO plants
 MAIN FEATURES
• Pump type independent operates all types of 3-phase pumps (no need to change existing pumps to use SPI technology)
• Grid power independent (operates pumps in solar mode from PV arrays)
• Operate pumps 24 hours a day (hybrid Solar-AC power sources)
• 30% more efficient than commercial solar systems (30% less PV power)
• Built-in TFT Touch screen for easy operation
• Built-in GPRS for remote operation
• Built-in Modbus for plant operation integration
• Built-in PLC functions for ready – to use in various pumping applications

HEAVY DUTY SOLAR PUMPING SYSTEMS

BUILT–IN PUMP PROTECTION CONTROLLER

PUMP OPERATION PROTECTION
• Soft-start and Soft-shutdown.
• Dry-run protection
• High pressure protection
• Pipe leakage protection
• Flow compensation
• Pipe fill protection
PUMP ELECTRICAL PROTECTION
• High voltage protection
• Power surge protection
• Phase loss protection
• GFIC protection
• Emergency halt protection
• Main turbulence protection

BUILT–IN SMART PUMPS CONTROLLER

• Auto start in Solar mode (No need to turn pumps ON/OFF)
• Auto-switching between power modes
• Boost–Decrease Flow Rate (Manual-Time Set- Remote )
• Built in monitoring and distant transmission
(Flow-Rate, Daily Pumped Volume, Solar Power (KW), AC (KW)

BUILT–IN PUMP COMMUNICATION CONTROLLERS

• SPI Communicates with other pumps, data servers, PLCs, control rooms
remotely using standard industrial Protocols (Modbus, Profibus)

APPLICATIONS
WATER PLANTS IRRIGATION PUMPS INDUSTRIAL PUMPS

SPI offers clean pumping power to
operate all types of water plant
pumps - including high pressure
RO pumps and city scale
distribution pumps
SPI offers deep-well, surface and
booster pumps to fully cover all
farm irrigation pumping needs
using solar power
SPI operates industrial pumps in
the oil & gas, paper and pulps,
breweries, dairies, food and other
industries reducing power cost and
offering a clean environment

SOLAR HANDLES DAILY PRODUCTION

SPI systems have a great economic advantage – they use solar as the main power and in only 8 hours of operation
can handle the required daily pumping volume. SPI systems use the grid (or diesel AC power) only when it is
required as a backup (i.e., at night time, late evening). SPI automatically and swiftly switches between solar
power and grid power without interruption to pump operation - it uses the two sources simultaneously and
economically.
SOLAR DEEP-WELL PUMPS
SPI-W CLASS

SP-W class offers solar systems for Deep-Well Pumping, lifting water from
up to 1500’ (500 m) well head at 1500 GPM (400m3/h). SPI-W systems can
operate Off-grid in rural areas (oil fields , large farms) , and in hybrid mode
in urban areas (city scale ground water treatment facilities) to supply million
of gallons per day utilizing hybrid solar power.
SPI-W MODELS
SPI-W models are referenced by pump horse power (HP) and operated by PV array power in KW equal to the
referenced HP. The table below lists SPI-W models referenced with HP (equally in kW PV) for various pumping
head (H) and required flow rates (Q) .

MODELS REFERENCE: SPI-W XX

(XX= the PV power in KW from the Ref. table below - based on 800w/m2 NOCT at 45°)

Q: FLOW RATE H: PUMPING HEAD Feet’-Meter (m)

150’ 250’ 350’ 500’ 700’ 1000’ 1200’
GPM m3/h
50m 75m 100m 150m 200m 300m 400m
100 25 6 9 12 18 24 36 48

200 50 12 18 24 36 48 75 120

300 75 18 24 36 60 75 120 150

400 100 24 36 48 90 120 150 180

600 150 36 48 75 120 150 240 300

800 200 48 60 90 150 180 330 420

1,000 250 60 90 120 180 240 480 540

APPLICATIONS
City Ground Water Plants Industrial Farming

SPI-W-500 model can pump 3 million GPD
(12,000 m3/day) from deep well at 750’
using solar plant with 500 kW PV array
using 500 HP pump.
SPI-300 uses 300 kW PV to pump 1-
million GPD from1,000’ that can
operate:
• 200 mW power plant
• 20,000 barrel oil field
SPI-W offers models to irrigate
farms from 10 acres to 1,000 acres
with one solar pump from ground
water sources

SPI LOWERS SOLAR PUMPING COST BY 40%

(40% LESS PVs COST AND MOUNTING AREA)
SOLAR SURFACE PUMPS
SPI-S CLASS

SPI-S class offers Solar systems for surface pumps in applications ranging from small city water
plants to large pumping stations at water district plants. SPI solar systems can operate pumps up
to 20,000 GPM ( 5000 m3/h).

SPI-S MODELS
SPI-S models are listed below up to 500 HP and referenced with HP for various pumping
head(H) and flow-rate(Q). Note that SPI systems operate pumps with PV array power (in kW
PV) equal to the operated pumping in HP.
MODELS REFERENCE: SPI-S XX
(XX = the PV power in KW from the Ref. table below)

Q: FLOW RATE H: SURFACE PUMPING HEAD ( feet’, bars, meters)

GPM m3/h 30’-1 bar-10m 75’-2.5 bar-25m 150’- 5 bar-50 m
400 100 6 9 30
800 200 12 24 48
1,000 300 18 36 60
1,500 400 24 48 90
2,000 500 30 60 120
2,250 750 60 90 150
4,000 1,000 90 120 210
6,000 1,500 150 210 270
8,000 2,000 210 270 350
12,000 3,000 270 350 420
16,000 4,000 330 420 500
20,000 5,000 400 480 560

APPLICATIONS
Feed Pumps to City Water Plants Feed Pumps to Desalination Plants

SPI-S 300 model operates 300 HP pumps to SPI-S 500 model operates 500 HP pumps to
feed 5 million GPD (20,000 m3/day ) using feed 10 million GPD (30,000 m3/day ) using
300 kW-PV solar plant 500 kW solar PV plant

SPI LOWERS SOLAR PUMPING COST BY 40%

(40% LESS PVs COST AND MOUNTING AREA)
SOLAR BOOSTING PUMPS
SPI-B CLASS

SPI-B class offers Solar systems for boost pumps in various applications ranging from small to large district water
distribution plants. SPI-B class can operate pumps up to 10 million GPD at 7 -10 bar to supply city scale water
distribution.

SPI-B MODELS
SPI-B models up to 750 HP are listed below . They are referenced with HP for various pumping head(H) and
flow-rate(Q). Note that SPI systems operate pumps with PV array power (in kW PV) equal to the operated
pumping HP.

MODELS REFERENCE: SPI-C-B-XX (XX = the PV power in KW from the Ref. table)

Q: FLOW RATE H: Total RO Pump Pressure (bar-psi)

3bar 5bar 7 bar 15bar 20bar
GPM m3/h
50 psi 75 psi 100 psi 200 psi 300 psi
100 25 6 7.5 12 18 24
200 50 9 15 18 36 42
300 75 15 21 30 48 72
400 100 S 18 30 36 72 90
500 125 24 36 48 90 120
600 150 36 40 60 120 150
800 200 40 48 75 150 180
1,200 300 60 75 150 210 300
2,000 500 75 120 210 300 420
4,000 1,000 150 210 300 420 750

APPLICATIONS
District Water Distribution Industrial Recycle Plants Large Farms Irrigation
Plants

SPI-B - 300 model can pump 5 million Recycled water saves industrial plants SPI-B offers solar models to operate
GPD (20,000 m3/day) water using one considerable costs in both water and pumps that irrigate large farms up to
solar pump at 300 kW PV power while promoting clean plant 500 Acres with Central Pivots
operating benefits

SPI LOWERS SOLAR PUMPING COST BY 30%

(30% LESS PVs COST AND MOUNTING AREA)
SOLAR RO HIGH-PRESSURE PUMPS
SPI-RO CLASS

SP-RO class offers solar pumping systems for RO plants in various applications. Operates up to 150 psi in
sewage plants and up to 1000 psi for seawater desalination RO plants. SPI easily integrates with any pump,
manufacturers design, existing plants PLC and SCADA systems in large plants.

SPI-RO MODELS
SPI-RO models up to 800 HP are shown below for various pumping head(H) and flow-rate(Q) and
referenced with pump HP.
MODELS REFERENCE: SPI-RO XX
(XX = the PV power in KW from the Ref. table below)
SPI-RO PUMPS MODELS ( Ref. in KW PV / HP )
Q: FLOW RATE H: Total RO Pump Pressure (bar-psi)
7 bar 8.5 bar 10 bar 15 bar 20 bar 25 bar 35 bar 50 bar 60 bar
GPM m3/h
100 PSI 200 psi 150 PSI 225 PSI 300 PSI 375 PSI 525 PSI 750 PSI 900 PSI
10 3 3 3.6 4.5 5 7.5 12 18 45 60
20 5 4.5 6 6 9 15 21 27 75 90
40 10 9 9 12 16 24 36 60 150 180
100 25 18 21 30 35 45 60 96 240 360
200 50 36 40 48 75 90 120 170 450 600
500 125 75 85 130 170 240 300 450 750 900

1000 250 150 175 240 360 450 600 750

2000 500 270 360 420 750 900
4000 1000 540 660 750 SPECIAL ORDERS

APPLICATIONS
RO Plant Manufacturers Industrial Water-Recycle RO Plants Seawater Desalination Plants

SPI-RO enables RO manufacturers to SPI-RO 400 can operate water SPI-RO 500 operates desalination
offer Hybrid Solar-AC powered RO recycle plant up to 1 million GPD pumps at 1,000 psi to produce 300,000
plants for wide range of commercial (4,000m3/day) using 400 kW PV GPD (1,200 m3) from seawater at
applications 45,000 TDS

SPI LOWERS SOLAR PUMPING COST BY 40%

(40% LESS PVs COST AND MOUNTING AREA)
 SPI SOLAR SYSTEMS ECONOMY
Pumps consume 70% to 90% of plant operating power representing 60-75% of the plants total
operating costs. SPI solar systems significantly reduce pump energy and equipment costs by 50%-
to-70%. The economy of operating a 50 HP pump, for example, is provided below to compare SPI
cost (average ₵8 per KWh), with diesel power plant (average ₵22 KWh), and utility power (average
₵18KWh). SPI saves approximately 75% of diesel plant operating cost and 55% of grid power costs
to operate the same pump.

Pump Power Source Operating Cost Saving - Operating Cost % Saving

(50 HP Pump) (15 years)* (15 years)
Diesel-Thermal Power Plant $440,000 $0 0%

Utility Power $315,000 $125,000 29%

SPI Solar Plant $140,000 $300,000 69%

*SPI systems operate 15 years minimum with 25 years average solar production.

IMPLEMENTATION
SPI can operate off-grid in rural areas and on-grid in urban areas. It is the world’s first battery-less, grid independent
solar system dedicated for efficient pumping.

Off-Grid SPI Pumping Plant

On-Grid SPI Pumping Plant

IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
Solaropia offers two full support solutions:
PAC1: SPI Class unit only. Solar, hardware and installation provided separately.
PAC2: Package to implement solar plants as turnkey projects for existing or new plants.

PAC1 PAC2
Supplies SPI systems and tech support for Designated to plant operators, city water
solar and pumping installers . authorities and industrial plants. Services include
installation, commissioning and tech support.

SPI System Referencing

SPI T HP/KW P
Pump Type: W,S,B,RO Pump Horse Power/KWPV Package Type: 1, 2

3944 Murphy Canyon Rd –C106 San Diego, CA 92123 USA

www.Solaropia.com Tel. (+1) 619-207 4544 spumps@Solaropia.com