2021 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC)
Performance of off-grid solar based agricultural water
pump controller
Jeykishan Kumar K
Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy Division
Central Power Research Institute
2021 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC) | 978-1-6654-2928-3/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/EPEC52095.2021.9621511
Bengaluru, India
jeykishan@cpri.in
Abstract— This paper provides a performance evaluation of a
5.625 kW/ 7.5 Hp rated off-grid solar based agricultural water
pump controller used for irrigation purposes. The performance
evaluation was carried out as per IS/IEC 61683-1999 (Reaffirmed
2020) standard and it was observed that the controller is able to
deliver rated power with a maximum efficiency of 98.11% at a
nominal operating voltage of 600 V DC. Current harmonics exceed
5% limits at 25% and 50% loads, power factor increases with
increase in percentage loads and with full load at 480 V dc input,
the power factor is 0.85. Efficiency tolerance based on guaranteed
efficiency calculations is observed to be -0.55%.
Keywords— solar photovoltaics, pump, controller, performance,
agriculture, efficiency, off-grid
I. INTRODUCTION
Ministry of new and renewable energy, Government of India has
released technical specifications or Guidelines on the testing
procedure for solar photovoltaic water pumping systems as
Annexure-II of Circular No. F. No. 41/3/2018-SPV Division
dated 17.7.2019 [1]. These guidelines are the basis for the testing
setup and testing procedures for Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) water
pumping system in India. This scheme is implemented for
promoting solar photovoltaic water pumping systems for
irrigation purposes. The research work on agricultural pumps
used in India indicates that there is a need for a grid-connected
pump controller system and these pumps (along with motor-
pump controller) must comply with the anti-islanding
requirements of the grid system when connected to the grid.
Most of the day, the agricultural pump controller is idle i.e. the
pump controller is operated for a period of 1 or 2 hours
depending on water needs for the agricultural fields in India, and
the remaining 6 to 7 hours of solar energy is un-utilized. There
are no grid-connected pump controllers which are currently used
in India. For grid-connected motor-pump controller used along
with SPV modules to obtain DC power, the islanding prevention
technique has to be implemented in the controller and must
qualify IS 16169 or IEC 62116 standard. As per this standard,
the controller must disconnect the grid within 2 seconds if the
grid goes off-line (off condition or dead) [2].
The government has approved Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja
Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme
with the aim of increasing farmers' incomes, reliable source for
irrigation and drainage of the agricultural sector. About 17.5
978-1-6654-2928-3/21/$31.00
Authorized licensed ©2021
use limited to: COCHIN UNIVERSITY
IEEE AND TECHNOLOGY.
OF SCIENCE
Jothibasu S
Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy Division
Central Power Research Institute
Bengaluru, India
jothibasu@cpri.in
lakhs off-grid solar agricultural pumps (along with solar pump
controller with MPPT function) are planned to be installed in
India under this scheme [3]. Being said about the installations
across India with off-grid controllers with maximum power
point tracking (MPPT) function in-built, the possibility of
replacing the existing scheme of using off-grid controllers with
on-grid controllers in the near future is expected for use in smart
cities and smart grids. Power electronics-based devices such as
solar pump controllers when integrated to grid in smart cities are
harmonic contaminants that can introduce a large sum of
harmonics into the utility company relative to their power
requirements [4,5]. There have been other issues of power
electronic devices such as inverters, controllers, EV chargers,
battery storage systems, etc. operating under various climatic
conditions that lead to component failures and operating at lower
efficiency from the designed values. One of such issues is the
power-derating effect with ambient temperature. Due to the
temperature derating effect from the surrounding environmental
conditions i.e. ambient air temperature at the installed locations
across India, the pump controller output is reduced to protect the
components inside [6]. Another major issue is the lightning
surge protections within the inverter or connected external to it
[7]. Like in LED streetlights, surge immunity must be provided
for the solar pump controllers with a compatible rating of the
surge protection device (SPD).
With India targeting beyond 175 GW solar capacity installations
by 2030, the transformation to on-grid solar pump controllers
for use in agricultural purposes is bound to increase. When
connecting to the grid system, the controllers in respective
agricultural farms will switch on at different times and the grid
voltage fluctuations can cause the controllers to disconnect and
connect in an uneven manner. To maintain the stability of the
grid system of India, the on-grid controller must qualify the
requirements of CEA Regulations, 2019. The major
requirements are harmonic injection shall be less than 5% and
must adhere to certain faults such as low voltage ride-through,
high voltage ride-through, and frequency ride-through [8,9]. A
solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pumping system consists of
three major components viz. Solar PV array, controller, and
motor-pump set. Appropriate SPV array capacity (wattage) is
used for the system based on the capacity of motor-pump set i.e.,
submersible pump-motor or surface pump-motor sets. The DC
input power from SPV modules is connected to the input side of
158 Downloaded on June 25,2022 at 11:49:14 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 2021 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC)

the controller which converts DC to AC (acting as an inverter) II. METHODOLOGY

or DC to DC (acting as a rectifier) to power the DC motor, single
Efficiency calculations are carried out as per Cl. 4.6,5.1,5.2 &
(AC) or three-phase motor. The controller in general includes
5.3 of IS/IEC 61683:1999 (Reaffirmed 2020). Three different
the basic protections, maximum power point tracking (MPPT),
voltage levels are considered viz. minimum, nominal, and
and remote monitoring. The motor-pump set can be powered by
maximum voltage levels, and three different loadings are
either AC or DC power based on the type of motor used i.e., DC
considered viz. 25%, 50% and 100% for each voltage levels
motors such as brushed DC motor or brushless DC motor or
[10]. For considering the maximum input voltage, the minimum
permanent magnet-based or switched reluctance or AC motors
level to be taken is 90% of actual maximum voltage (V max.)
such as induction motor along with two types of pumps viz.
(750 V DC) i.e., 675 V. While measuring the efficiency
surface or submersible. One such combination is used for
parameter, analysis of power factor and harmonics (both voltage
agricultural or irrigation purposes. The whole system is called a
and current THD) is also important apart from different loading.
stand-alone SPV water pumping system as the system is not
When the efficiency measured has repeatability and reliability
connected to the grid or the battery storage system. In this paper,
after a minimum of 3 continuous measurements at rated load,
only the controller performance such as efficiency and
then the efficiency can be guaranteed. For a guarantee, the
harmonics are evaluated. This paper describes the efficiency
tolerance of efficiency can be provided as per Cl. 5.4 and Annex
performance of the off-grid SPV-based agricultural water pump
D of IS/ IEC 61683: 1999 (reaffirmed 2020) standard. This
controller of 7.5 Hp or 5.625 kW capacity during the complete
tolerance will correspond to +0.2 p.u of the losses with a
SPV water pumping system operation. Table 1 provides the
minimum efficiency tolerance of -0.002 p.u. The formula for
nameplate electrical details of the controller. The nominal input
efficiency tolerance (%) is [-0.2 * (1-η) * η].
DC voltage is 600 V DC. The performance is evaluated using a
programmable solar PV simulator and the controller input is III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
controlled to provide three different power levels such as 25%,
50%, and 100% at each of the three voltage levels viz. 480 V, The block diagram of the SPV water pump controller is shown
600 V, and 675 V. in Figure 1. This paper will concentrate on the efficiency
measurement of motor-pump controller or just controller
Table 1. Nameplate details of the 7.5 HP controller (equipment under test). There are four ways of using the
controller for agricultural purposes viz. simulating hot profile,
Sl. Parameter Specification
cold profile, current-voltage (IV) curve profile, and realistic
No.
profile (connecting real SPV modules in series or parallel
1 Input voltage range (DC) 480 V to 750 V
combination to achieve the rated power of controller). For hot
2 Input current range (DC) 0 A to 9 A and cold profile, the MNRE guidelines for SPV water pumping
3 Output voltage range (AC) 70 V to 440 V (L-L) system provides the irradiation and temperature values which is
4 Output current range (AC) 0 A to 14 A an average value (after research work carried out across India)
5 Power 5.625 kW/ 7.5 Hp for all Indian climatic conditions across various places.
6 Output frequency range 10 Hz to 55 Hz

Fig. 1: Block diagram for testing SPV water pump controller

159 Downloaded on June 25,2022 at 11:49:14 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Authorized licensed use limited to: COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
 2021 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC)

For calculating efficiency, there are only two only and main
parameters i.e. input power and output power. It is to be noted
that, either the input power output power has to be varied to
obtain the efficiency of the controller. In the case of varying the
output power of the controller, there is a need for different sets
of motor-pump sets which is tedious and therefore input side of
the controller is varied in this experiment. In this study, an IV
curve profile was used to simulate the input power to achieve
25%, 50%, and 100% power delivery conditions.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The input voltage deviations are -0.15% and +0.25% at 35% and
50% loading conditions respectively from the nominal value of
675 V. Table 4 provides the efficiency measurement results of
7.5 Hp controller when operating at an input voltage of 675 V
(V max.). In the case of the controller operating at a nominal
voltage of 600 V (Table 3), the voltage deviations are minimal
as it is the rated and designed value. The maximum deviation of
+0.15% is observed at 25% loading from the nominal value of
600 V.
Table 3. Efficiency measurement of 7.5 Hp controller at a
nominal input voltage of 600 V DC (V nom.)

Sl. Testing, % load

The experiment was carried out for each of three voltage levels Particulars
for three different loadings each. The electric parameters such No.
25% 50% 100%
as input/ output voltages, input/output current, input/output
power, output power factor, total harmonic distortion of 1 Input DC Voltage (V) 600.9 600.8 600.1
voltage, and current at the output are measured for evaluation.
Table 2 provides the details of efficiency measurement of 7.5 2 Input DC Current (A) 2.51 4.85 9.6
Hp/ 5.625 kW controller during the operation with input DC 3 Input DC Power (W) 1508.3 2913.9 5760.9
voltage at minimum level i.e., V min. = 480 V DC. It can be
observed that the input voltage reduced to 478.3 V which is - 4 Output Voltage (V) 237.51 308.12 396.67
0.35% from nominal during operating the controller at low load 5 Output Current (A) 7.542 9.01 11.67
i.e., at 25%. This behaviour to reduce the input power when the
load is reduced is observed commonly in solar water pump 6 Output AC Power (W) 1428 2813 5652
controllers as they have in-built MPPT and V/f control systems
7 Power Efficiency (%) 94.67 96.54 98.11
to maintain the controller efficiency to the maximum.
8 Power factor 0.49 0.62 0.75
Table 2. Efficiency measurement of 7.5 Hp controller at a
minimum input voltage of 480 V DC (V min.) 9 Voltage THD (%) 1.15 2.36 1.22
10 Current THD (%) 2.34 10.16 1.81
Sl. Testing, % load
Particulars
No. Table 4. Efficiency measurement of 7.5 Hp controller at a
25% 50% 100% nominal input voltage of 675 V DC (V max.)
1 Input DC Voltage (V) 478.3 485.1 483
Sl. Testing, % load
2 Input DC Current (A) 3.28 6.08 12.03 Particulars
No.
3 Input DC Power (W) 1568.2 2949.4 5810.5 25% 50% 100%
1 Input DC Voltage (V) 674 676.7 675.2
4 Output Voltage (V) 239.62 311.11 325.9
2 Input DC Current (A) 2.35 4.38 8.69
5 Output Current (A) 7.83 9.08 12.35
3 Input DC Power (W) 1583.9 2963.95 5867.49
6 Output AC Power (W) 1412 2831 5630
4 Output Voltage (V) 238.5 306.25 396.44
7 Power Efficiency (%) 89.81 96.04 96.85
5 Output Current (A) 7.66 8.92 11.66
8 Power factor 0.46 0.62 0.85
6 Output AC Power (W) 1430 2838 5678
9 Voltage THD (%) 1.4 1.7 1.2
7 Power Efficiency (%) 90.23 95.75 96.81
10 Current THD (%) 3.6 2.7 3.3
8 Power factor 0.48 0.63 0.75
9 Voltage THD (%) 1.23 1.7 1.24
Similar behaviour can be observed for the controller when
operating with an input DC voltage of 675 V DC (V max.) but 10 Current THD (%) 8.65 9.8 2
the deviation in input voltages is less when the controller is
operating at lower percentage loadings such as 25% and 50%.

160 Downloaded on June 25,2022 at 11:49:14 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Authorized licensed use limited to: COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
 2021 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC)

Table 5. Summary of experimental results the current harmonics (I THD) seen at the motor-pump load side
has exceeded the limits of 5% at 50% and 100% loading
Temperature: 25 ºC ± 2 ºC conditions. The current harmonics are high with 10.16% and
Output Voltage: 397 Vac (L-L), 50Hz (3 phase- 3wire) 9.8% at 50% load at a nominal voltage of 600 V and 675 V
Input Voltage (V dc) respectively. At 100% loading condition, the current harmonics
Power Level are less than 5% like the voltage harmonics levels. Harmonic
filters must be implemented in each of the controllers for better
25% 50% 100%
efficiency and the long life of the loads (motor-pump sets).
(480 V – 675 V) 1406.25 W 2812.5 W 5625 W
(V min. - V max.) Ƞ (%)
Rated output efficiency and
partial output efficiency
V min. 480 V 89.94% 96.03% 96.85%
V nom. 600 V 94.67% 96.54% 98.11%
V max. 675 V 90.22% 95.78% 96.80%

The guaranteed efficiency of the controller is the average of 3

efficiency measurements taken from three voltage levels at
100% (full load) condition. The average efficiency is 97.25%
which is considered as guaranteed efficiency of this 7.5 Hp
controller and therefore the efficiency tolerance is calculated to
Fig. 2. Efficiency versus percentage loading
be -0.55% which is very good and satisfactory as the %
tolerance is less than 1%. The performance of the controller at
different loading is provided in Figure 2. It can be observed that
the efficiency increases with an increase in percentage loading. 1.24 675 V
Percentage loading, %

The performance at the minimum and maximum voltages are 100% 1.22 600 V
similar in nature whereas the maximum efficiency is observed 1.2 480 V
when the controller operates at a nominal voltage of 600V. The
plot provided in figure 2 shows that the controller efficiency at 1.7
nominal voltage is showing better results which is increasing 50% 2.36
1.7
with percentage loading and almost a flat curve. The almost flat
curve indicates that the efficiency is almost maintained 1.23
throughout the percentage loadings with less deviation (about 25% 1.15
3.5%) from the maximum value of efficiency (98.11%). 1.4

The harmonic measurement is carried out as per IEEE 519- Voltage THD (V THD), %
2014 standard. The harmonics of current (I THD) and voltage (V
Fig. 3. Voltage harmonics (V THD) versus percentage loading
THD) must be less than 5% as per IEEE 519-2014 standard [11].
Harmonics affect the performance of the motor-pump set which
is connected to the controller. As per IEEE 519-2014 standard
for harmonics, the power electronic devices which provide 675 V
2
power output as AC such as this 7.5 Hp controller must limit
Percentage loading, %

100% 1.81 600 V

their harmonics to 5% (both current and voltage). Figure 3 and 3.3 480 V
Figure 4 provide the voltage and current harmonics variations
with respect to percentage loading for three different voltage 9.8
levels respectively. It is observed that the voltage harmonic 50% 10.16
levels (V THD) are within the limits and did not exceed 2.36 %. 2.7
The harmonic content in voltage output of the controller is less
than 1.24% in the case of the controller operating with 8.65
minimum and maximum voltage levels. In the case of nominal 25% 2.34
voltage level, the controller has maximum has reached 2.36% 3.6
(less than limits of the standard) at 50% loading which is Current THD (I THD), %
because of the design of the controller and also for the need for
stable voltage output throughout the voltage levels. Similarly, Fig. 4. Current harmonics (I THD) versus percentage loading

161 Downloaded on June 25,2022 at 11:49:14 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Authorized licensed use limited to: COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
 2021 IEEE Electrical Power and Energy Conference (EPEC)
Variation in power factor with respect to percentage loading is
provided in Figure 5. It is observed that the power factor
increases with an increase in percentage loading and therefore
the controller is effectively operating only at 100%. The power
factor is observed to be 0.85 at V min. and 0.75 at 25% and 50%
V nom. and V max. voltage levels. The power factor control
throughout the voltage and percentage loading is made possible
only at the designing stage by providing it with automatic
power factor control (PFC). The power factor measured is due
to the operating power factor of the motor-pump set (load). If
the load (motor) is designed for a better power factor, then the
performance of the controller and standalone SPV water
pumping system is improved.
Fig. 5. Power factor (pf) versus percentage loading
V. CONCLUSION
This paper provides a performance evaluation of a 5.625 kW/
7.5 Hp rated solar water pump controller used for agriculture
purposes. The performance evaluation was carried out as per
IS/IEC 61683-1999 (Reaffirmed 2020) standard and it was
observed that the controller is able to deliver rated power with
a maximum efficiency of 98.11% at a nominal operating
voltage of 600 V DC. Efficiency tolerance based on guaranteed
efficiency calculations is observed to be -0.55% which is
satisfactory. Voltage harmonics are within limits whereas
current harmonics have exceeded 5% limits and reached up to
10% at partial or lower percentage loads (i.e., 25% and 50%).
For 100% percentage loading at three different voltage levels,
the V THD & I THD limits are observed to be less than 2 %.
Harmonic filters must be implemented in each of the controller
162 Downloaded on June 25,2022 at 11:49:14 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Authorized licensed use limited to: COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
for better efficiency and the long life of the loads (motor-pump
sets). Good design of motor-pump sets (power factor control)
and controller (harmonic filters) is required for better
performance of the controller and the standalone SPV water
pumping system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was supported by Central Power Research
Institute, Bengaluru. We thank our colleagues from Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy Division who provided
insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research.
REFERENCES
[1] Guidelines on testing procedure for solar photovoltaic water pumping
system, Annexure II of ciruclar No. F.No. 41/3/2018-SPV divison dated
17.7.2019, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
[2] K, J.K. 2020. Grid loss protection in an utility interactive single phase
micro string solar inverter. Asian Journal For Convergence In
Technology (AJCT) ISSN -2350-1146. 6, 3 (Dec. 2020), 48-54.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.33130/AJCT.2020v06i03.009.
[3] Guidelines for Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha
evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme, Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy.
[4] K. J. Kumar, G. Bharath Kumar and R. S. Kumar, "Harmonic Impacts of
Warm and Cool white LED Bulbs," 2019 Global Conference for
Advancement in Technology (GCAT), 2019, pp. 1-5, doi:
10.1109/GCAT47503.2019.8978456
[5] K. J. Kumar, G. B. Kumar, and R. S. Kumar, “Photometric assessment of
warm and cool white LED bulbs,” J Opt-uk, pp. 1–9, 2020, doi:
10.1007/s12596-020-00640-4
[6] K. J. Kumar, R. S. Kumar, and T. Bhattacharjee, “Alternate method for
evaluating power-temperature derating characteristics of grid tie solar
photovoltaic inverter,” Sādhanā, vol. 46, no. 3, p. 117, 2021, doi:
10.1007/s12046-021-01646-9
[7] K. J. Kumar and R. S. Kumar, "Surge Immunity Protection in AC LED
Street Lights," 2020 IEEE International Conference for Innovation in
Technology (INOCON), 2020, pp. 1-4, doi:
10.1109/INOCON50539.2020.9298332
[8] K. J. Kumar, R. Sudhir Kumar and V. S. Nandakumar, "Voltage and
frequency response of three phase grid tie solar inverter during
LVRT," 2020 International Conference on Smart Technologies in
Computing, Electrical and Electronics (ICSTCEE), 2020, pp. 424-426,
doi: 10.1109/ICSTCEE49637.2020.9276941
[9] Jeykishan Kumar K, Significance of Low Voltage Ride Through (LVRT)
in Solar Inverters, Electrical India magazine, May 2020.
[10] IS/ IEC 61683: 1999 (reaffirmed 2020): Photovoltaic System-Power
Conditioners - Procedure for Measuring Efficiency
[11] "IEEE Recommended Practice and Requirements for Harmonic Control
in Electric Power Systems," in IEEE Std 519-2014 (Revision of IEEE Std
519-1992) , vol., no., pp.1-29, 11 June 2014.