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Design of Solar Pumping System for Rural Area

Conference Paper · June 2011

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 1

Design of Solar Pumping System for Rural

Area
Yin Min Nyein1, Dr. Aung Ze Ya2

Abstract— In this work a stand-alone water pumping system is
designed. This system is designed for any water pump type which
has a three horse power, DC permanent magnet motor and a
single-state centrifugal pump. This work gives many options to
users not only on pump but other system component such as
battery and solar module. The user can select system component
according to their availability of such items on the market.
Experiences gained during implementation stage of 2kW solar
pumping system projects are shared.
II. PV PUMPING SYSTEM ELEMENTS
A typical PV pumping system consists of a photovoltaic
(PV) cell array, charge controller, storage battery and DC
(or AC) load, Figure 1. Of course, other accessories such as
energy storage, cabling, transducers and protection are also
needed.

Keywords— photovoltaic system, water pumping, design

analysis, peak sun hours

I. INTRODUCTION

G enerally, solar energy is utilized in two ways, solar

thermal and solar electric. Photovoltaic system can be
used to improve quality of life and provide national
economics benefits. PV systems are most appropriate for
sustainable and environmentally desirable rural Fig. 1 Typical of PV Water Pump System
development. A small stand-alone type solar PV power
system can provide power to a rural house for lighting, A. PV Array
fans, TV, a small refrigerator and water pumping. Apart A PV array is made up of PV modules, which are
form this household application, PV power water pumping environmentally-sealed collections of PV cells, the devices
system are being installed to provide portable water and for that convert sunlight to electricity. In this work,
low consumption irrigation purpose. Pumping water is a international standard PV module which is
universal need around the world and the use of photovoltaic 1500×800×50mm in dimension and weights about 16 kg
power is increasing for such application. PV power was used. 72 number of 125mm square monocrystalline
pumping systems offer simplicity, reliability, and low silicon solar cells are connected in series and framed.
maintenance for a broad range of applications between
hand pumps and large generator driven irrigation pumps. TABLE. I
Both ac and dc motors with rotary and displacement pumps Electro-optical characteristics of PV module used in this
are being used with PV power. Brushless dc motors are now project
available and provide low maintenance on shallow
submersible pumps. The PV arrays are often mounted on Parameters Symbol Min. Type Unit
passive trackers to increase the pumping time and Open circuit voltage Voc 44.0 V
production of water. The design of photovoltaic water Maximum power voltage Vpm 17 V
pumping systems, firstly because water pumping is a major Short circuit current Isc 4.85 A
applications for photovoltaic and secondly because the Maximum power current Ipm 4.4 A
design of each system is considerable more complicated Maximum power Pm 155.2 160.0 W
than most applications, owing to the large range of water Encapsulated solar cell
ηc 15.0 %
efficiency
source types consumer requirement and system
configurations. In the simplest photovoltaic water Module efficiency ηm 12.5 %
pumping systems, the solar panels are directly connected to
a DC motor that drives the water pump[1].
B. Load
The load is the motor that drives the pump. It may be dc
Ma Yin Min Nyein is ME Candidate (Electrical Power) Student of
Mandalay Technological University (yinminnyein001@gmail.com).
or ac. If a dc pump is used, the voltage required is typically
Dr. Aung Ze Ya is a Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Power,
Mandalay Technological University (dr.aungzeya010@gmail.com).
 2

12 volts. Some manufactures incorporate a dc to ac inverter = 50 m (160 ft)

into their pumping unit. Submersible brushless dc pump
motors are available from a number of manufactures. If a dc QH T 54 ´ 50
The hydraulic energy, E = = = 7.4 kWh/day
motor with brushes is used, the brushes will require 367 367
periodic replacement. The size of the power system will
B. Motor Sizing
depend on water demand, total dynamic head and efficiency
of the pump system. Reasonable system sizing can be There are three types of motor commonly used for
realized using average daily values of energy demand and photovoltaic pumping applications, and each has its good
and bad points. For this reasons no one type has yet emerge
daily insulation[2]. as a standard and the potential buyer should therefore be
C. Battery aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the motors in
the various systems on offer.
The battery stores energy in the electrochemical form, The immediate choice is between AC or DC motors. In
and is the most widely used device for energy storage in a terms of simplicity the DC motor is an attractive option
variety of applications. The electrochemical energy storage because photovoltaic modules only procedure direct current,
is a semi-ordered form of energy, which is in between the and less specialized power conditioning equipment is
electrical and thermal forms. It has one-way conversion needed. The DC units used for photovoltaic applications are
efficiency of 85 to 90 percent. There are two basic types of generally of the permanent magnet type[1].
electrochemical batteries. The primary battery converts he In a conventional DC motor the magnetic field is
chemical energy into the electrical energy. The produced electromagnetically by the field winding.
electrochemical reaction into the primary battery is
Daily electrical energy demand =
nonreversible, and the battery after discharge is discarded.
For this reason, it finds applications where high energy Peak daily hydraulic power output
design for one time use is needed. (4)
motor - pumpset
The secondary battery is also known as the rechargeable
battery. The electrochemical reaction in the secondary
7.4 kWh/day 12 kWh/day
battery is reversible. After a discharge, it can be recharged = = 12kWh / day = = 2kW
by injection direct current from an external source. These 0.6 5 h/day
types of battery convert the chemical energy into electrical Motor input power = 2kW
energy in the discharge mode. In the charge mode, it So, pump motor size must be at least 2kw and choose 3-hp
converts the electrical energy into chemical energy. In both (2237W) DC single-phase capacitor start/run motor. And
the charge and the discharge mode, a small fraction of the pump type is chosen centrifugal pump type.
energy is converted into heat, which is dissipated to the C. Calculation the Load
surrounding medium. The round trip conversion efficiency To calculate the total load (Ah/day), we consider power
is between 70 and 80 percent [3]. conversion efficiency, which is accounts for power loss in
system using power conditioning components, is 0.85 for
III. DESIGN ANALYSIS converting DC power to AC power at the voltage rather
than system voltage, the voltage required by the large loads.
A. Hydraulic energy requirements The nominal system voltage is 12 V in our PV system.
Total Ampere-Hour load (Ah/day)=
The hydraulic energy E, in kWh can be calculated from
QH T 2000W ´ ( 3 hours- per - day) ´ 3daysper week (5)
E= (1)
( 7days- per - week) ´ ( 12Vsystem) ´ ( 0.85 ´ powerconversionefficiency)
367
The long term aim of water development is to provide all
= 252 Ah
people with ready access to safe water in the quantity they
want. However, in the short tem a reasonable goal to aim The energy required, corrected amp-hr load, to meet the
for would be a water consumption of about 90 liters per average daily load and loss, we must take into account, due
capita per day (23.8 gallons per day). Thus for typical to wiring and battery efficiency.
village populations of 600, water supplies will have to be
sized about 54 m3/day (14280 gallons per day). Peak current draw = 2000W (6)
= 167A
Peak sun hours for dry zone = 5 hours 12V System
Corrected Ah load =
Gallons per minute (GPM) 252Ah
gallons per day 1 hour = 286 A (7)
= ´ (2) (0.98Wireefficiency) ´ (0.9Batteryefficiency)
peak sun hour per day 60 minute
14280 ´ 1 C. Calculation the Battery Size
= The battery serves two important purposes in a PV
5 ´ 60
= 47.6 gal/min » 50 gal/min system; to provide electrical energy to the system when the
Therefore, in this design, friction losses are neglected energy is not supplied by the array of solar panels and to
because it is very small. store excess energy generated by the panels whenever that
Assume total head, HT=Hs+Hd+Hf (3) energy exceeds the load. We design our PV system with
 3

autonomy of 6 days. Other factors take into account for Design current = (12)
battery sizes are types of battery, maximum depth of correctedAhload 286Ah
= = 58A
discharge (DODmax), derate for temperature, nominal PeakSunHours - per - Day 5hour - per - day
voltage and nominal capacity. For lead acid deep cycle
battery, DODmax default value is 0.75 and nominal capacity, Rerated design current = 58 A = 65 A (13)
(0 .9 A )
the maximum amount of energy that can be extracted from
a fully charge battery is 200Ah [5]. Module in parallel = 65A = 16 no (14)
4.4
Required battery capacity =
Module in series= (15)
(285Ah) (6days)
= 2451 Ah (8) (12V - per - batter) ´ (1Battery - in - Series) ´ (1.2Compenastion)
(0.7depth - of - discharge) ´ (1.0) 17V(PVoutput)

2451 Ah = 1 module
Battery in parallel= = 12.25 no » 12 no (9)
200 Ah Total module requirement = 16×1 (16)
= 16 no (16 modules)
Battery in series = 12V (10)
= 1 no
12V(batter y output) IV. TABLE. III
Calculated total required number of PV module in terms of
Required total battery = 12×1= 12 no (11) their electrical specification.

Usable battery capacity = 12×200×0.7 = 1680 Ah Module Module Module Total

Usable battery capacity is the amount of ampere-hours that Power Wp voltage current (A) module
can be safely be used from the installed batteries. (Volts)
75 17 4.4 16
TABLE. II 85 17.6 4.8 15
Calculated total required number of battery in terms of their
100 18.5 5.4 13
electrical specification
120 17.2 6.99 10
Battery capacity Charging current, A Total Battery 130 17.4 7.47 9
(Ahr) Required
160 17 4.4 16
50 4.2 49 170 35.4 4.8 15
60 5 41 190 26.1 7.00 11
70 5.8 35
200 24.7 5.4 13
75 6.2 33
100 8.3 25
120 10 20 This table provides users to choose the desire
150 12.5 16 specification they have in the market. Since different types
200 16.6 12 and specification are widely available form different
manufacturer, user should have options to select based on
their requirement. The main reason of this calculation is
Similar to table I, this table also provides options to the option the user chooses must supply the load-demand
select by the user according to their availability of the energy.
market. This table pointed out that if user selects smaller
storage capacity battery they will need a big number to E. Charge Controller and Wire Sizing
purchase, vise visa. However, the specification of the 1. Charge controller
charge controller plays an important role while selecting The photovoltaic system controller must be specified to
capacity of the storage battery. match the system voltage. A charge controller is an import
part of the system which is connected between the arrays
D. Solar Panels and the batteries. A PV charge controller senses battery
Solar panels usually have two electrical contects one voltage. When the batteries are fully charged, the control
positive and one negative. Some panels also include extra will stop or decrease the amount of current flowing from
contacts to allow the installation of bypass diodes across the the photovoltaic array into the battery. Capacity of charge
individual cells. For sizing the panel, we need to consider controller is 30A [5].
the main parameter of panels such as short circuit current, Array short circuit Amps = Module short circuit current ×
open circuit voltage, maximum power point, fill factor and Module in parallel × 1.25 (17)
efficiency [2]. = 4.4 × 4 × 1.25 = 22 A
 4

2. Wire sizing ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Wire is the one of the important component of the
installation, as suitable wiring ensure efficient energy
transfer. The wiring used in wiring between the arrays and
controller, batteries, battery to inverter or inverter to
appliance are different according to the flow of current.
Each wire size is carefully select according to the
international practices. Wire size is given in terms of AWG
or American Wire Gauge. The minimum wire size allowed
for direct current is # 6 AWG and #10 are specified for all
direct current circuits in the system even though a smaller
wire would satisfy the requirements of ampacity and voltage
drop [4].
3. Grounding
Two method of grounding an electrical installation are
equipment grounding an electrical installation are
equipment grounding and the grounded conductor.
Equipment grounding provides protection form shock
caused by a ground fault. The grounding wire must be not
only connected to every non-current carrying metal part of
the installation to ground to ground also bonded every
metal electrical box, receptacle, equipment chassis,
appliance frame and photovoltaic panel mounting. The
grounding wire is never fused, switched or interrupted in
any way. It is also good idea to ground the array mounting
frame immediately upon installation [3].
The author is deeply gratitude to Dr. Khin Maung Latt,
Mandalay Technology University, for his guidance and
advice.
The author would like to express grateful thanks to her
supervisor Dr. Aung Ze ya , Assistant Professor,
Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Head of
Department of Electrical Power Engineering and to all her
teachers from Mandalay Technological University. The
author would very thank her parents. The author greatly
expresses her thanks to all persons whom will concern to
support in preparing this paper.
REFERENCES
[1] Soteris kalogirou “Solar Energy Engineering: Processes and System”,
Elsevier Inc. 2009.
[2] J.L Davies, “The Design and optimization of a system using an
Indiction Motor driven pump, powered by solar panels”, 30 April 1992.
[3] http://www.leconics.com
[4] Ametek, Inc, solar energy Fland book, 2nd edition, 1984.
[5] Chapter 10, sizing Photovoltaic Systems,
http:// www.iinformaworld.com.

Fig. 3 Complete Wiring Diagram of the 2kW Solar

Pumping System

V. CONCLUSION
This system is designed for any water pump type which
has a three horse power, DC permanent magnet motor and
a single-state centrifugal pump. This work gives many
options to users not only on pump but other system
component such as battery and solar module. The user can
select system component according to their availability of
such items on the market. This system is able to pump
water up to 100ft with 50gal/min speed. For water pumping
system in this paper, sixteen solar panels are used to get the
sufficient energy. So, Fig. 3. is vital in this paper.

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