Concept of Solar Powered Irrigation System

Pakistan is facing a serious energy crisis for last few decades resulting in load
shedding as well as high prices of the Electricity. Also the electricity connections for
agricultural operations are not easily available to every field.

Therefore the only available option for motorized irrigation is to choose among
gasoline generators to run the motor shafts for water extraction.

Conventionally, the diesel generators have been used to run the pumping systems
for water extraction either from ground wells or from mini dams. Though this
system is less costly and readily available in the local market with operation and
maintenance backup support easily available yet there are a number of factors
which discredit this system and favor the adoption of solar power.

A general overview of solar vs diesel pumps are provided in below table

Type Advantages Disadvantages

Unattended Operation High Investment Costs

May require water
PV Pump Low Maintenance Cost storage
Long Lifeline Repair often requires
skilled technicians
Fuel supplies erratic and
Fast and easy installation expensive
High operational costs
Diesel Pump High maintenance costs
Short life expectancy
Low investment costs Noise and air pollution
Noise and air pollution
Advantages of Solar Power over Conventional Generators
i. Operational cost of the Solar system is very less, approaching to almost zero as
compared to conventional Diesel Generators because the fuel in the form of
Sunlight is available in abundance.
ii. Its clean energy with zero greenhouse gases hence environment friendly
iii. Independence from volatile fuel prices and unreliable and costly fuel supplies
iv. No transportation of fuel is involved, as in case of Conventional generators as
such more reliable.
v. Long life Photovoltaic Panels (up to 30 years) are now available in the local
market and this make the system more durable than generators which require lots
of maintenance and ultimately replacement after every 8 – 10 years.
vi. Electricity can be used to run other electrical appliances without burning any
additional hydro-carbon during periods when no irrigation is required by the farm.
vii. Solar power imparts no noise pollution which is unavoidable in case of Diesel
Generators.

Disadvantages of Solar Energy

i. Still relatively high initial investment costs that smallholder farmers, especially,
cannot afford or cannot tolerate the risk aligned with the investment. The initial
cost of purchasing a solar system is fairly high. This includes paying for solar panels,
inverter, batteries, wiring, and for the installation. Nearly 80 percent of the cost of
solar system consists of PV arrays.
ii. Solar Powered irrigation is heavily dependent on weather conditions. Although
solar panels operate e during cloudy and rainy days, the efficiency of the solar
system drops. Therefore, a few cloudy, rainy days can have a noticeable effect on
the energy system.
iii. Solar power is only available during limited period of day. The peak power will
be generated for 5-6 hours during a day. NO solar energy cannot be collected
during the night.
iv. Solar energy storage is expensive. Either it has to be used right away, or it can
be stored in large batteries. These batteries can be charged during the day so that
 the energy is used at night. This is a good solution for using solar energy all day
long but it is also quite expensive.
v. Solar panels require a lot of space as compared to conventional systems.
vi. Solar Panel systems are often vulnerable to theft
vii. Optimal operation and maintenance of solar powered irrigation system requires
a certain degree of technical knowledge and skill, so farmers need to be trained.

Solar System Components

A typical solar system pumping system consists of following basic components.

i. Pumping Unit
ii. PV Array
iii. Pump Controller/Inverter
iv. Storage
v. Cooling and Cleaning Mechanism
vi. PV Mounting Structures, Directions and Tilt Angles
vii. Wiring Wiring/Electrical Cables

Each of these is discussed in details below

i. Pumping Unit
The pumping unit comprises of a motor and pump and central element of solar
pumping system. The pumps can be derived from either AC or DC power supply but
normally DC pump is preferred due to its simplicity. IN case of DC supply, Moreover,
pumping units can be Installed at the surface or below water level submersible in
nature. The total cost of solar system will be dictated by appropriate pumping unit
and therefore it should be carefully selected.

A huge variety of DC pumps are available in market. Working supply of small pumps
is normally 12 V DC or 24 V DC whereas higher capacity pumping units may need
250 volts or over for operation.

ii. PV Array
Solar panels are needed to provide required power to the pumping unit. The solar
panels are available in variety of sizes and types. Mainly following three types of
panels are in use;

1. Mono-crystalline (Efficiency = 16-19% approx. and Most Expensive)

2. Poly-crystalline (Efficiency = 12-14% approx. and comparative less expensive,
Lower space efficiency)
3. Amorphous type thin films (Efficiency = 7-8% approx.).

Based on the advantages and disadvantages of these types of solar panels, it has
been decided to employ monocrystalline solar cells for our project. Detailed specs
will be provided later.

The solar panels are banded with voltage and current to define rated power (Wp).
The panels are available from 12 volts to 48 volts and rated power ranges from 50
Wp to 260 Wp. However, rated solar power is only available if incident solar
radiations is 1000 watt/m2 and cell temperature remains around 25 ºC. Any
deviation from these standard operating conditions will change output of PV
panels. The location of PV panel should be shade free and these shall be installed
as close to the pumping unit as possible.

After determination of pump power, the selection of PV solar panel and its size (i.e.
array) can be sized accordingly. Panels are graded by wattage termed as Peak
Wattage (Wp).

The selection of PV Panel is governed also by the specification tables provided by

the manufacturers. It is to be noted that voltage matters more than current for
selection of PV panels. The panels may be configured in series or parallel to acquire
required voltage and current to suit the pumping unit.

In general, it is a good idea to oversize the PV panel array by 20% to account for
mechanical and electrical losses in the system. If a sprinkler cleaner/cooler is not
installed, increase the PV panel array by another 25-30% due to dirt and
temperature effects.

iii. Pump Controller/Inverter

As already pointed out, incident solar energy keeps on varying over the day and
across the seasons, therefore, a regulator is required to stabilize the power output
to avoid such damages. In the absence of pump controller, pumping unit may be
damaged due to power fluctuations. Pump controller is actually the brain of the
solar pumping system.

Pump controller can either be a simple ON and OFF switch or more complex
controllers can be employed. In case of a simple ON and OFF switch, the downtown
of the solar energy will increase and hence it is not advisable. It is recommended
to use advanced controllers which can include current boosters to better match the
current and voltage of the pump. They boost the current during low light conditions
(morning, late afternoon, cloudy days) which can increase pump output by 30 to
50%.

It should be noted that Controller circuitry is often not waterproof and should be
protected from harsh effects of weather. It should also be kept in mind that
controller and pumping units should be compatible.

However, in case of AC pumps, an inverter will be installed which will convert DC

into AC supply. An inverter is an electronic device that converts low voltage DC to
high voltage AC power. In solar-electric systems, an inverter may take the 12, 24,
or 48 volts DC and convert it to 230 volts AC for use with AC pumps. The solar pump
inverters are usually environmentally friendly with a long lifetime and lower
maintenance costs. Built-in MPPT ensures you to get the best output power and
optimizes the performance of water pump solar Inverter along the day as it starts
and stops automatically based on the intensity of solar radiation. Advantages of
using an inverter are as following;

 Built-in MPPT controller

 Intelligent track maximum power point
 Fast response
 Protection against overcurrent, overvoltage, overload, anti-lightning etc.
 Smart operation, water level detection and operation panel to prevent
overflow, dry pumping
  Compatible to utility or diesel generator input
 Comprehensive LCD and LEDs display real-time system status
 Efficiency up to 95.

However, inverter efficiency shall also be taken into account while designing
complete system.

iv. Storage
As already stated above, storage of solar energy is quite expensive. However,
Batteries may be required to store power for use during night or cloudy/rainy
periods. However, using batteries is very expensive and proper maintenance is also
cumbersome. Batteries will also be needed to change during three to four days.
Therefore, it is advisable to avoid batteries which will result in lower cost of solar
system. However, for other farm needs, an overhead storage tank can be
constructed, which can be filled during good sunny period for subsequent uses. The
size of storage tank will be decided on daily water requirements for such activities.
However, location of overhead tank should be appropriate so that water can be
gravitated easily for subsequent uses.

v. PV Array Cooling and Cleaning Mechanism

As temperature increase beyond 25 degrees the efficiency of solar panels starts to
decrease. Similarly, in dusty environments incident light on solar panel surface
decrease and output of panel will also decrease. Some means of artificially cooling
and cleaning the surface of panels can be provided. However, it will result in
increased complexity and cost. Therefore, it is recommended to manually clean the
PV array surface on monthly basis. A minimum gap of two to three inches between
panels is recommended to facilitate natural cooling.

vi. PV Mounting Structures, Directions and Tilt Angles

PV arrays can be mounted on multiple types of structures which may include pole
mounting, roof mounting, and ground mounting etc. The mounting structure
should be stable enough to resist the wind and hail storm pressures without any
significant change in location. Roof mounting is not particularly suitable for larger
demands as it will result in large solar panel area. Either pole mounted or ground
mounted options can be utilized. The panels must be protected from theft,
livestock damage and vandalism. The entire system should also be protected from
adverse weather such as lightening and floods

It is also noted that as sun keeps on changing its direction along the day and across
the seasons, therefore, direction and tilt angle of PV array must be such that it may
receive sun rays at right angle (90) over its surface during most of the time. Usually
south facing direction of PV surface is most useful for harnessing the solar energy.
For tilt angle, worldwide, there are following three types of PV mounting
arrangements i.e. . Permanently Fixed PV Array Structure, Seasonally Permanent
PV Array Structure and Traceable/Trackable PV Array Structure. However
considering higher cost of traceable PV array structures and higher failure
probability, it is recommended to use Permanent PV Array Structure.

vii. Wiring/Electrical Cables

The electrical cables used shall be UV protected, weather resistant and of premium
quality to suit longer life of panels. Low quality wires can develop cracks which can
be hazardous to people and equipment. The wires should be kept as short as
possible (locate solar panels close to the pump) to avoid excessive voltage drop and
energy loss. For most irrigation applications, the wire having 2-4 mm size (wire size
# 12) is enough. However, array wire should be bonded together and looping of
circuits should be avoided.