Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Solar powered water pump with single axis tracking system for
irrigation purpose
Pavushetti Abhilash a,⇑, Raghavan Nanda Kumar b, Raparthi Praveen Kumar b
a
SR Engineering College, Warangal, Telangana, India
b
Malla Reddy College of Engineering (JNTUH), Secunderabad, Telangana, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Now a day the most convenient available energy is a solar energy used by the photo voltaic cell that con-
Received 13 June 2020 verts heat energy into an electrical energy directly from the sun. Present research concerned with the
Received in revised form 8 August 2020 solar tracking, conversion of Direct Current to Alternating Current and to run the agricultural motor
Accepted 13 August 2020
equipped with the timer. Tracking is to align the solar panel always perpendicular to the solar beams
Available online xxxx
to charge the battery effectively where the intensity of the light is higher and energy is in form of
Direct Current to convert Alternating Current by inverter. Required energy from battery is to run the
Keywords:
motor. To automate the stepper motor, which has silicon based solar panel mounted on its shaft, con-
Solar tracking system
Photovoltaic Cell
trolled by the microcontroller. Two sensors are connected to the micro controller one which senses
Pump the position of the sun and the second one for sensing whether it is day or night. The first sensor finds
Timer the location of the sun which is mounted on the solar panel, and the stepper motor is controlled accord-
Motor ingly such that the beams fall onto the solar panel always perpendicular. For this logic, used AT89C51
Water pumping system microcontroller and the embedded C-program coding is provided in the KEIL micro vision editor.
Analyzed average amount of energy available from pump, efficiency achieved by the panel to work.
Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0) Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of ICAMMM 2020.

1. Introduction
S.A.Shufat, et al [1] designed the solar tracking system with dual
planes. Solar radiations are transformed into electrical power offers
statistics about development methodology of electricity by means
of photo voltaic panels and to provide water in faraway areas is
required to predicted to advance a programmed water machine.
Popat and P.P [2] Solar panel constitutes of hooked up framework
for off grid water machine body work semiconductor materials.
Solar monitoring urges photo voltaic power to generate out of
the C-Si photo voltaic panel and permits to preserve a profile with
the solar rays. Badescu and Viorel [3] worked for improvement of
automatic water pumping device by the use of photo voltaic track-
ing. Renewable strength supply well-known shows a tremendous
for producing electrical energy instead of any gasoline consump-
tion. Energy performs a most important position for working and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: p.abhilash@sru.edu.in (P. Abhilash).
automated turn on and off of the water pump. Algifri, et al [4] Step-
per motor is controllable, strength efficient, regular and have
excessive monitoring accuracy and suffers little environmental
effect. The secondary thing is undertaken specifically the water
pumping first-rate harm to the surroundings as they damage
machine consists of water degree sensors, DC motor and green-
house gases. Wen, et al [5] The aim is to amplify the quantity of
usable electricity by making use of a computerized monitoring
model to seize most depth of the photo voltaic rays. Concluded
to provide electricity conserving less use of manpower, useful
resource for the sustainable improvement and to is generally
related in sequence or parallel to get additive assist the mankind.
Yadav, et al [6] worked with suitable methodology for tilt angle,
and updated the status of research on applications of solar panel
accumulated in battery which makes motor to run the pump eco-
friendly. Increase in cell efficiency, maximizing the energy output
and using a monitoring machine with photo voltaic panel are the
three most important approaches to enlarge the standard effi-
ciency. S.Bari [7] Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is the

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.08.336
2214-7853/Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the
scientific committee of ICAMMM 2020.

Please cite this article as: P. Abhilash, R. Nanda Kumar and R. Praveen Kumar, Solar powered water pump with single axis tracking system for irrigation
purpose, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.08.336
P. Abhilash et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

method to maximize the output electricity from photo voltaic interval programmed by KEIL software and improved the efficiency
panel by the factor of Power-Voltage characteristics. Bairi.A [8] by tracking system along with power demand characteristics.
presented the quick determination of solar angle and slope of col-
lector in possible utilization at different periods, concluded that its
being advantage of staff or familiar but not for optimization tech-
2. Materials and method
niques. Production of photovoltaic is a better approach using sun-
light. Solar energy is widely used now a days for solar space
2.1. Silicon based solar panel
heating, water heating, street lightening and also for domestic
needs. Economic coat of silicon PV panels are also reducing and
The cell is manufactured with silicon wafer one dimensional
government providing subsidiaries to encourage its application in
semi conductor with 160 mm thickness, where n-type is exposed
various fields. R.H Mcfee [9] Primarily the usage in irrigation sys-
to sunlight and p-type is doped for back surface field at the bottom
tems for agriculture. Solar produced pumping in irrigation is a bet-
of last few microns thickness in wafer as shown in Fig. 1. The back
ter method in farming in this present crisis in India. Ecofriendly
field is usually made of aluminium for doping with contact to the
energy production gives cost free energy once initial investment
wafer avoiding the minority carriers like electrons like entry from
is done. Concluded to optimize the usage of water. Solar powered
back surface. Material cost is quite low and it is the largest user in
have been used by mankind since years. P.O.Carden [10] by com-
photovoltaic industry. For standard cells the wafers are relatively
puterized controlled explained the flow of electricity in some
to be thicker more than 200 mm.
materials increased when exposal to sunlight, understand the
Solar cell is made of semiconducting material prepared by
Edmonds work on PV when it explains clearly about principle of
these materials as shown in Table 1. Had some characteristics
photo electric effect. Concluded by using two way axis tracking
to absorb solar energy. A silicon material is divided into cate-
increases the efficiency of PV cells up to 14 percent. Bureau of Elec-
gories while manufacturing results wafers and ingots etc. Wafer
trical Energy in India in 2011 there are 18 million irrigation pump
like polycrystalline which are carefully cooled and solidified
systems and half million systems per year equipped with five horse
between 160 and 240 mm thickness and more efficient. The
power motors. Robert.O and Hughes [11] described the point focus
material (silicon) has chemically two bonds doped with layers
solar collectors and assisted smart sunlight powered pumping sys-
one is phosphorous and another boron. Titanium dioxides are
tems for farmers is a better solution in lack of electricity. The pro-
used as a anti reflection coatings to incorporate the sunlight into
posed model have used techniques from paper and remodified.
solar cells. Aluminium is used as an alloy for silicon and frame
Pulse Width Modulation techniques has been implemented to
for solar module.
inverters to control frequency and AC output voltage. Prashanth
Panel consists of photovoltaic cells which forms a module made
S Nair, et al [12] describes current situation on sustainable energy,
up of silicon connected in parallel or series to give power. It is P-N
focused on designing the pump. Fabricated the floating pump
junction; the electrons will passes from within the junction to gain
which increases the efficiency in pumping system and concluded
energy and jumps into atoms leads the flow of electrical energy
to implement in rural areas, different temperatures and pressures
through circuit. Suitable solar panel is selected for proper working
were defined with discharge. M.M.Haque [13] designed the solar
of pumping system with required specifications as shown in
running water pump using PV module for irrigation purpose. Com-
Table 2.
pared the cost of diesel with photovoltaic pumping system, proved
Solar panel output depends on need of water discharge. In order
PV system is more economical. M.Abu Alighah [14] estimated the
to enhance the discharge of water, suitable pumping system is ini-
current radiations on particular locations on earth and designed
tiated. For pump suitable specifications are required to work as
a pump using Si-photovoltaic system, have concluded output of
shown in Table 3. Continuous power supply is obtained from panel
solar energy depend on demand data and better design of system.
which is for recharge the battery when motor not in use, with
Inorder to prevent power loss, batteries should equipped to solar
development of relay protection for pumping system.
system for storage of electricity when there is no demand of power.
M. Arrouf and S. Ghabrour [15] focused on minimizing the installa-
tion cost equipped with solar system and to increase the output
efficiency. Estimated that work can be modeled with design system
in order to achieve good efficiency by solar panel. Shatadru Biswas
and M.Tariq Iqbal [16] explained the extraction of ground water
using for irrigation by electrical energy stored in battery, equipped
with converter to boost up the power used by pump. Used MATLAB
simulation compared the solar system with diesel operated
engines to provide the economical solution. Fabricated system is
the feasible solution to face the challenges in dry season for
irrigation.
The current article deals with water pumping system powered
with solar energy by Silicon based photovoltaic energy conversion
process. Based on previous literatures it is known that no timer has
equipped with pump and no one has improved the efficiency with
amount of battery storage with silicon panel characteristics. So in
this research article, we had made an attempt by analyzing amount
of solar energy to charge the battery required for pumping system
and to find the efficiency of pump with supplied power, LDR (Light
Dependent Resistors) are used for tracking system for better effi-
ciency. The first sensor finds the location of the sun which is
mounted on the solar panel, and the stepper motor is controlled
accordingly such that the beams fall onto the solar panel always Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of solar cell shows the region of top surface and transfer
perpendicular. Timer is installed to run the pump in a specific time of electrons to bottom surface.

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P. Abhilash et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
Silicon composition for solar module.

Materials Quantity
Silicon 88%
Polycrystalline 160–240 mm
Phosphorous, boron 8%
Titanium dioxide 4%
Aluminium Alloy 12%

Table 2
Solar Panel Specification.

Parameters Values
Maximum Power 10 Watts
VoltageMax 16 Volts
IMax 0.54 Amps
Rechargeable 12 Volts, 4.2 Amps
Battery Lead acid Fig. 3. Working model of solar tracker with pump.
Weight 1.5 Kgs
Dimensions (mm) 280*52*20

Table 3
Specification of pump used.

Parameters Values
Maximum Power 30 Watts
Voltage AC 220Volts, 50hz
Nozzle diameter 10 mm
Maximum flow 250 Lph
Maximum Head 2.2 m

2.2. Solar tracking system

The proposed model is equipped with primarily solar tracker

followed by battery, motor and LDR sensors. These sensors are
fixed at two ends of solar panel. Depend on intensity of light falling
on Light Dependent Resistant
The intensity of solar radiations falling on panel is sensed by
LDR sensor which is controlled by PCB circuit board in order to Fig. 4. Assumed working of proposed model.
extract the maximum solar energy to store in battery for function-
ing of pump. The sunlight strikes the panel the sensor gives the sig-
nals to stepper motor which is controlled by AT89C51 to turn on with relay protection circuit connected to battery to
microcontroller. Two sensors used namely LDR 1 and LDR 2 fixed supply power. Once the time end, relay valve breaks the circuit
at edges of panel whether to decide receiving of maximum light of power supply makes to turn off pump automatically. Proposed
and gives signals to motor to rotate according to the direction of model was shown in Fig. 4.
maximum sunlight as shown in Fig. 2. This energy is obtained to Fig. 3 indicates with parts name mainly stepper motor (part 1)
store in battery. Meanwhile the timer set to the pump for specific used to rotate panel support shaft which get the signals from
running in a limited time intervals. Timer makes the water pump tracker (part 7). Solar panels (part 2) connected to battery (part

Fig. 2. Solar Tracking from east to west.

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P. Abhilash et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

7) which is mounted on wooden plank. Above system can be

believed to be applicable in remote and irrigation applications. Bat-
tery is connected with printed circuit board, for increase of voltage
step up transformer (part 4) is employed. Timer (part 8) is
equipped for running of pump (part 5) in a stipulated time
intervals.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Hydraulic power of pump

qQ gh
P¼ Fig. 5 (continued)
3600  1000
where Q is discharge through the pump (6.63*10-5 m3/s),q is water
according to latitude seasons. There is a variation in intensity of
density (1000 kg/m3), g is gravity (9.81 m/s2), h is total head of liq-
radiations during the length of the day results variation in power,
uid 2.15 m.
current and voltage characteristics. The characterisation obtained
1000  0:0000663  9:81  2:15 by connecting the panel in series with ammeter and voltmeter.
P¼ ¼ 0:00132 kw ¼ 1:320 w
1000 Responses were recorded as Current- Voltage curve.
The Fig. 5(a) is plotted during peak hours of solar energy around 2
(Pump size) Power of motor Pm = Ph / Nm
PM, by taking x-axis and y-axis as voltage and current respectively.
Where Mechanical efficiency of motor is assumed as 75%
At 20 V reached 0.44 Amps of current. But panel has maximum
= 1.320 / 0.75
power of 10 Watts. It can observed clearly at 10 Volts has 0.4 Amps.
= 1.76 w.
The Fig. 5(b) is plotted by taking power and voltage parameters
Panel is designed as to work for 5 h (11 AM to 4 PM).Pump
as y and x-axes respectively. The power is obtained by multiplying
use = 1.76 * 5 = 8.80 W-hour per day
voltage and current at each point. From the curve it can be inferred
Each solar cell typically generates 0.5 to 0.6 V. Proposed model
that the solar isolation is not at all constant with respect to voltage
of panel has 16 solar cells. 16*0.5 = 8 V.
and power varies accordingly throughout the day. Therefore its
need to store the electrical energy produced by panel during high
3.2. Battery storage
intensity radiation hours. The maximum power obtained 6.8 W
at 17 V. This explains that solar energy is not constant throughout
For one day battery backup, needed DC = 8.80 / 8 = 1.10 Ampere
the day. After 17 W the power is decreased due to less intensity of
–hour.
solar energy after peak hours.
HQ In this study successfully implemented the single axis tracking
¼ system. Generating of solar energy by tracking system increased
367  Power of motor
the pump efficiency up to 79.4% this is a good efficiency with pre-
Where H is taken as pump head (2.15 m), Q as discharge
vious researches Shatadru Biswas and M.Tariq Iqbal [16] because
(0.23868 m3/hr).Power of motor as 0.00176 Kw.
of increasing the power of motor and using silicon material solar
¼ 2:150:23868
3670:00176 panel fixed with LDR sensors for tracking. Power from the panel
= 0.7944*100 is stored in the rechargeable battery 4.2 amps, analysed the
= 79.4% amount of power to be stored in battery per day is 1.10 A hour
For Inverter capacity select 40% more than motor power to con- based on working peak hours. To prevent the lack of power from
vert DC to AC supply. battery, analysed power-voltage-current characteristics. These
results are in good agreement with previous literature [16]. It
3.3. Study of silicon photovoltaic module characteristics explains the power demand based on voltage and current. All these
parameters purely depend on intensity of radiations.
The power of solar energy is purely depends on intensity of
solar radiations. Amount of radiations strikes on panel changes 4. Conclusion

The main objective of this investigation is to develop Silicon PV

tracking based pumping system by utilising the solar energy for
irrigation purpose. Based on results the following points were
concluded.

1. In five hours of operation for solar irradiance to get specific out-

put to charge battery by continuous tracking as there is a vari-
ation in solar constant. Therefore it needs to store solar energy
in battery as there is no solar constant irradiance throughout
the day to prevent the unavailability of power at usage timings.
2. As power demands more according to the voltage. Current in
amperes demand is constant till peak hours and reduction in
current at zero solar constant. Simultaneously voltage increases
Fig. 5. (a): Current-Voltage characteristics of solar panel (b): Power-voltage with power within working hours. By the study of panel charac-
characteristics of solar panel. teristics the energy can be stored to avoid lack of power.
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P. Abhilash et al.
3. Size of the pump was validated based on power of motor. Size is
varied with respect to discharge and height of pump to extract
water. As size increases efficiency also increases.
4. Battery storage has been designed for backup, if a solar cell gen-
erates more than 0.6 V, the energy in battery can be stored less
than peak hours.
5. Silicon material as solar panel is the key structure for efficiency
enhancement and cost reduction.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
A special thanks to Management, Principal and HoD of SR Engi-
neering College, Warangal, Telangana State for providing the
research facilities in the Centre for Materials and Manufacturing
to carry out research work. I would like to express my sincere grat-
itude for giving opportunity to work in their labs.
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