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SOLAR POWERED WATER PUMPS: PROBLEMS, PITFALLS AND POTENTIAL

T. D. Short, M. A. Mueller University of Durham, United Kingdom since their fust introduction in the late 1970s the technology has by no means reached its full potential. Moreover, present levels of penetration contrast strongly with the 1978 aim to install IO million units by the year 2000 [I]. By 1998 it was estimated that a total of only 60,000 units had been sold since 1978 [2]. Whilst this goes some way to addressing the lack of safe water currently faced by up to 1.2 billion people world-wide [3], a recent study [4] suggests that nearly half the pumps in some areas are no longer functioning, only ten years after installation. So what is the problem? Where are these system going wrong and failing those who depend on them?
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ABSTRACT

For many years, solar (photovoltaic) powered water pumping has been portrayed as being able to revolutionise water provision in rural and developing communities. Mass produced pumps and cheaper PV panels have been promised, with the possibility of bringing safe water to those people who currently lack this basic human right. Although inroads have been made to reaching such an ideal situation, the current reality is somewhat different. This paper will consider the challenges faced by electronic and electrical components in a solar powered water pumping system. It will: 1. review how these problem have been addressed historically; 2 . investigate the ways in which the solutions have failed 3. explore novel ways of utilising modem electrical systems in order to allow full exploitation of this potentially lifetransforming technology.
INTRODUCTION

PRESENT SYSTEMS PROBLEMS

COMPONENTS

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Very little has changed in recent years in the provision of pumping energy through photovoltaics (PV). Whilst the use of PV water pumps (PWs) has grown steadily

Solar water pumping systems are nominally very simple. Figure 1 is a schematic of such a system, composed of a solar array, a motor, a pump and a reservoir. The use of the reservoir removes the need for a battery, whilst the controllers presence is dependent on the type of motor-pump combination chosen and whether or not Maximum Power Point Tracking is required. Each of the electrical components in this system has its own characteristics, and all are further dependent - through the motor - on the type of pump employed.

Figure 1 PV pump system schematic

Power Electronics.Machines and Drives, 16-1 8 April 2002, Conference PublicationNo.487.Q IEE 2002

Figure 2 PV and pump characteristics

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The photovoltaic array The PV panel has a lolown DC current-voltage (I-V) characteristic such as that shown in Figure 2 , varying with the radiation incident on the panel and with a Maximum Power Point (MPP) curve as shown by the grey line. If there is a direct connection between the array and the motor then the operating point of the panel is dependent on the characteristics of the motor and is unlikely to match the MPP. This can also be seen in Figure 2 where the dashed lines show the I-V demand from typical DC permanent magnet motors driving centrifugal and reciprocating pumps. water collection, with the resultant health and social implications. The further potential for drastic consequences ... for cattle and crops [ 9 ] only enhances the view that down time should be kept to a minimum and that reliability IS key. It seems remarkable, therefore, that having mentioned the failure of 17 out of 90 inverters in field testing, Hahn is able to conclude that PVP standard systems [i.e. using AC motors driving centrifugal pumps] have demonstrated their technical maturity and reliability. Kaunmuang [4] adds to this, noting that in a survey of 489 PVPs, 220 units (45%) have failed. Most failures are due to blockage of pumps and pipes and inverter failures. The nature of places likely to use PVPs does not ease the situation, with conditions likely to be extremely difficult. Hammad [ 101 quotes temperature as hot as 40C and dust blown from a constant desert wind, both of which are potential contributors to controller failure. There are consequently two lessons to be leamt regarding electronics and controllers: If any kind of controller is to be used, be it for a DC brushless motor, an inverter for AC provision or a specialised MPP Tracker (MPPT), it must be inherently extremely reliable, or easily reparable/replaceable at local level. This places severe limitations on such a controller; Given these limitations, it must be questioned whether or not a controller should be used at all. Indeed, whilst electronic systems should have increased in dependability since Roger concluded direct coupling petween motor and amy] is the most reliable pumping technique [9], the evidence points otherwise. Discussion

The motor

Whilst the output from the PV array is DC, the motor may not be, depending on the system as purchased. Several different possible motor types exist, each with their own problem. An immediate addition to expense is that local electricians in developing countries are not always trained to install DC systems, requiring either the cost of specialist help [5], or of additional training. Should the motor be supplied with DC electricity, it could be brushed (with inherent losses at the brushes and regular maintenance requirements as brushes wear away); brushless (requiring a complex controller [6]); separately excited (possibility of good MPP matching, but requiring a complex controller [7]); or switched reluctance (also requiring a control circuit [SI) to name but a few variations. An alternative is to use AC motors. Whilst the motor itself may be cheap, reliable and, in contrast to the DC motor, simple, it requires an inverter which is potentially complex and hence expensive. In addition, according to Metwally [8] [als the inverter becomes complex the reliability in service decreases. This statement encompasses a considerable number of problems encountered by PVPs in use in the field which will now be considered.

The inverter andlor controller Whilst it is clear that the optimum PVF design would be a PV array directly connected to a DC motor, the problem of matching the MPP curve of an array still remains. The added expense and complexity of some kind of controller is somewhat irrelevant in more developed countries as spares and repairs are easy to access. This is not the case -in developing countries, however. If anything goes wrong with the pump system, it may be a considerable time before anyone is available to inspect the pump. During this time, and any further time required to source replacement parts, water users must resort to more traditional methods of

Previously designed systems appear to have matched off-the-shelf components, in order to standardise the systems and reduce costs. However, it may not be the optimum solution for the application and the environment in which the system is being used. Drive systems for PV powered pumps operating in a rural community in the developing world have to be cheap, reliable and maintainable by an untrained user. Reductions in cost and gains in reliability can be gained by minimising the complexity of power electronics and reducing tbe number of electromechanical stages in the drive system. Ideally the system should also exhibit high performance. Based on these constraints the drive system should be dc powered, brushless and placed in the borehole directly coupled to a reciprocating piston as suggested by Whitfield et a1 [I I]. Moving beyond the assumption of a rotational motor, however, the drive system could he based on the brushless permanent magnet or variable reluctance principle, whilst the thrust force could be generated using either tangential forces from a conventional linear motor topology or normal forces from an electromagnet topology.

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bead and the second term is the force due to the submerged head. Apt. is the cross sectional area of the pipe at the outlet valve and A,,i3,0nis the cross sectional area of the piston. In order to investigate a suitable linear actuator a typical specification of the pumping requirements is required. Boreholes are typically 100 or 150 mm in diameter, with typical heads of 100 m. The swept volume at the piston typically vanes from 0.1 to 0.5 Us, The frequency of operation can typically vary from 10 to 20 Hz. Linear Actuator. Figure 3 shows the components in a reciprocating pump. Motion of the piston is achieved using a linear actuator. During pumping the piston moves upwards, the outlet valve opens and the inlet valve closes. During the down stroke the outlet valve closes, and at the same time the pressure in the chamber equalises to the pressure represented by the submerged head. The inlet valve then opens. Beneath the water chamber lies a sealed chamber containing the control system if required The function of the linear actuator is to produce a force which has to overcome the pressure of the submerged bead and the pressure of the outlet head behind the outlet valve. The thrust force could be generated using either tangential forces from a conventional linear motor topology or normal forces from an electromagnet topology. In the latter case there would be no physical contact between the actuator and the piston.
A starting point for any design study is to consider the stress capability of the options available. For conventional linear motor topologies, a variable reluctance machine has a shear stress in the region of 40 kN/mz, whereas machines based on the variable reluctance permanent magnet (VRPM) principle exhibit shear stresses in excess of 100 khVm'[13,14]. If an airgap of 1T could be achieved in the electromagnet topology, a normal stress of 400 kN/mz would be achieved. Clearly the latter option offers the best choice in terms of desired tlnust and the ability to fit inside the physical envelope available in the pumping chamber.

Perris and Salameh [I21 proposed replacing a rotary motor and gearbox with a linear dc motor drive system positioned at ground level and coupled to the pump via a long connecting rod. Whilst this has moved towards the desired system, the use of a connecting rod is not desirable in deep bore holes, say up to 100m. It is also unclear whether the proposed motor is brusbless. RECIPROCATING INDUCED FLOW PUMP.
System Description

1 I
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Variable reluctance electromagnet actuator Figure 4 shows the proposed electromagnet actuator in more detail. The actuator is supplying the force to displace the water and hence provide pumping power. The thrust force is provided by the force of attraction between the iron bar and the C-core and is calculated from Maxwell Stress : Figure 3 : Reciprocating Induced Flow Pump The worst case static force acting on the piston is given by equation 1. In order to open the outlet valve the thrust force from the actuator must be at least equal to this force.

2
where B is the airgap flux density and po is the permeability of air.

= pgh,Apipe+ pghzApi,,,

The first term represents the force due to the outlet

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performance the coil cnnent should rise to the source current as early as possible in the pumping period. By considering the inductance at the maximum airgap position a voltage can be chosen to ensure that the desired current is achieved in an approporiate time. This brief overview highlights that the design of the system is highly dependant on the individual components in the system, which is illustrated further in a basic design study. DESIGN STUDY

m m*d,am/er

- :e 4 Variable reluctance electromagnet ach

The airgap flux density is calculated from a reluctance network of the device, shown in figure 5 . It is assumed in this simple network that all the flux flows in the limbs of the C-core and only crosses the airgaps under the poles; no account of fringing is considered. Saturation is considered very simply by choosing the iron permeability to limit the flux density in the iron to 2.5T.

The actuator cannot fill the whole spa% of the borehole, a path is required for the water around the perimeter of the actuator. Proposed dimensions for a 100 nnn borehole are given in Table 1. These dimensions have been used throughout the design study.

Table 1 : Typical dimensions (in mm)

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Because of the physical limitations it is anticipated that the iron will he saturated, and the slot dimensions are chosen to ensure a reasonable temperature rise. The airgap is dependent on the displacement of the pump piston. For example at 10 Hz operation the piston stroke is 6.4mm in a l O O m m borehole and 2.4 nnn in a 150 mm borehole for a swept volume of 0.5 Us in each case. With the actuator providing the pumping action the iron bar moves through a displacement equal to the stroke. Figure 6 shows how the force produced by the actuator varies from an airgap of 8mm to Imm for each borehole. In each case the number of rums is set to 500 and the maximum coil current is equal to 13A. Saturation of the magnetic circuit limits the force available.

Figure 5 : Reluctance network of the electromagnet actuator The actuator is providing the pumping action so that the iron bar has to move through a displacement equal to the pump stroke. The airgap operating range is therefore equal to the stroke, which affects the resulting force produced. Electrically the actuator can be modelled as a resistor and inductance in series with the solar m a y providing the voltage supply. The solar array consists of a number of solar panels connected in series to provide the necessary voltage and a-number of these strings connected in parallel to provide the required current. At a certain solar irradiation a constant current is generated, but the current rise is limited by the coil inductance. Since the airgap changes the coil inductance also changes. In order to achieve optimum

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Figure 6 : Force vs airgap At the maximum airgap the force produced has to overcome the pressure of the submerged depth and the pressure of the outlet head behind the outlet valve. For the 1 0 0 " borehole a force of 77.1 N is required per metre of submerged depth. The force hehind the outlet valve depends upon the diameter of the pipe at that depth. Knowing the stroke and the force at this airgap a working head can be calculated for different pipe diameters. Figures 7 & 8 show the relationship hetween head and pipe diameter for different swept volumes at frequencies of 10 Hz and 20 Hz respectively. As the swept volume increases the stroke increases for a fixed frequency. The thrust force from the actuator decreases therefore and only by decreasing the pipe diameter can the pump operate at high heads. There is a penalty to be paid in terms of flow rate at the outlet pipe. At 20 Hz the stroke is smaller for the equivalent swept volume compared to 10 Hz, leading to a greater thrust force from the actuator and better performance at higher heads.
100

Figure 8 : Head vs pipe diameter at different swept volumes at f=20Hz The current required to achieve the starting force is limited by the inductance of the coil when the airgap is at a maximum. A simple analysis of the magnetic circuit shows that at an airgap of 8 " the coil inductance is equal to 40mH for a 100 mm borehole. However, as the piston moves the airgap decreases and so the inductance increases. In addition the voltage will decrease as the current increases because of the solar panel I-V characteristic (figure 2). A full dynamic model is required to investigate the current waveform during the pumping action, which is beyond the scope of this paper. As part of the design study it is sufficient to determine the minimum voltage required for the coil current to rise to its required value before pumping starts when the airgap is equal to the stroke. In order to start the pumping cycle the current must rise to the required value in the shortest time possible, so as not to introduce too long a delay in the pumping cycle. Setting the rise time equal to the time constant should not present a significant delay. The coil resistance is 1.2 R giving a time constant of 0.033 seconds. The PV voltage required is therefore at least 24 V. Once the coil current rises to the maximum available from the PV panel some control may be required to maintain this current taking into account the rising inductance and operating point on the I-V characteristic.
Design Summary

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40

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80

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Figure 7 : Head vs pipe diameter at different swept volumes at f=lOHz

Based on the fmdings in the design study performance parameters have been generated using the simple model for a low and high head. The results are shown in Table 2. The results imply that the pump system can operate over a wide range of beads, only requiring an increase in.supply voltage as the head increases.

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pumping - successes and problems". in . . International Workshop on PV- Water Supply Issues. 1998: Marrakech. World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund, Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000 Report, ISBN 92 4 156202 1,2000. Kaunmuang, P., et al., "Assessment of photovoltaic pumping systems in Thailand one decade experience." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2001. 67(1-4): p p ~ 529-534. Cawood, W., Maphephetheni: "Renewahles at work in a South African rural development program" , in Renewable Energy World. 2001. pp. 86-99. Langridge, - - D.. Lawrence, W., and Wichert, W., "Development of a Photovoltaic Pumping Svstem using a Brushless DC Motor and Helical Rotor Pump." Solar Energy, 1996. 56(2): pp. 151-160. Akbaba. M.. Oamber.. I.. , and Kamal.. "A.., Matching of Separately Excited DC Motors to Photovoltaic Generators for Maximum Power Output." Solar Energy, 1998. 63(6): pp. 375385. Metwally, H.M.B. and Anis, W.R., "Performance Analysis of PV Pumping Systems using Switched Reluctance Motor Drives." Solar Energy, 1996. 56(No. 2): pp. 161.168. Roger, - J.A., "Water and Photovoltaics in developing-countries." Solar Cells, 1982. 6(3): pp. 295-308. Hammad, M.A., "Characteristics of solar water pumping in Jordan." Energy, 1999. 24(2): pp. 85-92. Whitfield, G.R., Bentley, R.W., and Mogotsi, B. "Improving the cost-effectiveness of small solar photovoltaic water pumping systems. in Renewable" Energy Sources '91. 1991: Prentice, pp. 51-56. Penis, C. and Salameh, Z., "Photovoltaicpowered Piston-type Water Pump Controlled by a Linear Motor." Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 1995. 3: pp. 265271. Weh, H., Hoffman, H., and Landrath, J. "New Permanent Magnet Excited Synchronous Machine with High Efficiency at Lower Speeds." in Intemational Conference on Electrical Machines. 1988. Pisa, Italy, September 1988, pp. 35-40. Suooner. E. "Hieh Toraue Machines". in Ganchestcr Maihines ' Seminars 1995: UhlIST. U K . September 1999.

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4. Table 2 : Performance at low and high heads in a IOOmm borehole . 5. Control System For ease of maintenance the control system should be very simple. Its main function is to de-energise the actuator once the stroke has been achieved. A trip switch is the simplest method of achieving this control. However, the energy stored in the actuator coil has to be removed as soon as possible, which could be achieved by dumping the energy into a resistor. The piston will then fall under the pressure of the submerged head. When the piston has reached its original position the control system should switch the supply back across the coil provided the current has reached zero. Some form of current sensing will he required to ensure that the coil current has fallen to zero before re-energisation in the next pump cycle. 6.

7.

8.

9.

CONCLUSION

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The results of the design study show that the linear electromagnet actuator has the potential to' meet the specification of an ideal pumping system. It is fully submerged; it is a directly coupled system mechanically and electrically and it is very simple in construction. The proposed actuator design for a 100 mm borehole can provide enough force to pump at a range of heads and swept volumes, provided the pipe diameter and pumping frequency are . chosen appropriately. Further work is required to investigate in more detail the dynamic performance of the actuator and the control system. In conclusion a solution has been proposed, which shows potential in terms of reliability, cost and ease of maintenance. 14.
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REFERENCES
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2.

Barlow, R., McNelis, B., and Derrick, A., "Solar Pumping: An Introduction and Update on the Technology, Performance, Costs and Economics." World Bank Technical Paper Number 168. 1993, London: Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd. Derrick, A., "20 years of PV powered water