Photovoltaic Water Research Articles

Technical and Economic Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumps against Conventional Systems in Common Crops in Ilocos Sur, Philippines

Irrigation is a well-established procedure on many farms and is practiced around the world. However, typical irrigation systems consume a great amount of conventional energy using electric motors and generators powered by fuel. The cost of solar panels has been continually decreasing, which encourages its usage in various sectors, including agriculture, where irrigation is a crucial economic driver. The study analyzed and compared PV technology against conventional irrigation technology in common crops in Ilocos Sur. Equipment sizes were optimally determined using available irrigation requirements, rainfall data, farm area, and available equipment sizes in Ilocos Sur. Equipment sizing and economic analysis were based on one hectare of land. The cash flow analysis was conducted over an assumed equipment life of 20 years to be able to come up with levelized water pumping costs. Results showed that with typical farmland in Ilocos Sur, the farmland must be alternately planted with rice and corn to be able to be fully utilized all year round. The study showed that the solar pump installation has a heavy upfront investment cost compared to the conventional system. Due to no fuel and little to no maintenance needed, the solar pump turned out to be more economically feasible in the long run. In the 20-year life of both equipment, pumping one cubic meter of water using a solar pump is only PHP 1.35 while for gasoline, it is PHP 5.44 or around four times more expensive based on the prevailing cost at the time of the study.

Suitability, sizing, economics, environmental impacts and limitations of solar photovoltaic water pumping system for groundwater irrigation-a brief review.

Irrigation is an essential part of agriculture which helps to sustain crop growth and increase food productivity. Most of the nations around the globe have adopted diesel fuel-based pumping units to irrigate their farm lands. However, increased fuel cost and strict emission laws have made these nations to look for alternate and clean energy powered pumping units. Solar water pumping units are more promising alternate to address these concerns. In this review work, types and concepts of available solar thermal and electric energy-based water pumping units are discussed. Suitability of solar PV pumping units in comparison to thermal energy-based units has been listed out. Detailed procedure for sizing solar PV pumping units by considering crop water requirement, head of pump, and local climatic conditions like solar radiation intensity and rainfall have been provided based on inputs from available literatures. In addition, step by step procedure to estimate economics and environmental impacts associated with solar PV water pumping units along with results of latest studies in these areas have also been presented. Solar PV water pumping units are highly recommended for regions with at least 300 to 400 mm rainfall per year and 2 km away from local grid power supply. Moreover, operation of solar PV water pumping units in on-grid mode can reduce its payback period significantly. Pumping cost associated with diesel units are 300.0% higher than solar PV units. Hence, solar PV water pumping units can be considered as an effective and sustainable option to irrigate farmlands. Advantages, limitations of solar PV water pumping, and strategies to improve its acceptability among farmers have also been provided.

A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of Distillate Water from the Cooling of the PV Module

A large portion of incident solar radiation on photovoltaic (PV) panels is transformed into heat; thus, reducing photovoltaic panel power. The photovoltaic module’s efficiency depends primarily on the ambient temperature, the temperature of the module, the incoming intensity of the solar radiation, and the composition of the PV material. Depending on the type of solar cells used, PV panel efficiency typically drops by 0.5 for each degree rise in temperature. The cooling technique is also beneficial to maintain the cell at the operating temperature and should be such that, with a uniform distribution, it holds the average cell temperature to its minimum values. The supply of drinking water is increasingly declining with increasing population, growth, and environmental pollution. Therefore, it is appropriate to concentrate on available distilling water. Due to its low cost, energy, and ability requirements, solar still is one of the promising technologies available for water purification. The current work attempts numerically to suggest and analyze the production of distilled water, electric power, and heating water for domestic by utilizing a simple passive cooling technique for a new hybrid PV/T. The present work benefits from the unwilled heat of PV panel to obtain freshwater without the construction of solar still by putting a glass cover on the original frame of PV. The system’s performance is investigated from various aspects such as distilled water yield, production of electrical and thermal power instantaneously, and daily by considering three types of mass flow rate in inner wick and four types in the outer wick. Results show that the mass flow rate of inner wick does not significantly affect the temperature of PV and distilled water yield, but the mass flow rate in outer wick has affected distilling water. The production of water was maximum for the CPVWD module and is increased by about 65.73% more than that for the PVWD. The CPVWD module is found to display the highest electrical efficiency while the PVWD shows the lowest value. Good agreement between the present results and previous works was found.

Modeling of a PV water supply system for different meteorological conditions

In this study, the behavior of a water supply system with PV technology was analyzed and modeled on different meteorological conditions. The photovoltaic water supply system, PVWSS, consists of a PV generator set, a frequency inverter, a motor pump and a storage system. This water supply system was thoroughly experimentally tested, on a test bench in real operating conditions (outdoor) in Recife, Brazil. The meteorological and geometric parameters of the system and its flow rates results were used to perform a modeling through ANN to estimate the pumped volume in function to meteorological conditions and the discharge heads. The ANN modeling predicted the flow rates with percentage deviation and normalized mean square error of − 0.6% and 6.85%, respectively. Using a residential water demand curve, the system was simulated for different meteorological conditions, resulting in a deficit of 0.2%, a unit cost of $0.29 per m3 pumped to a discharge head of 24 m with an optimum reservoir of 2 days of autonomy. This model can predict the flow rates for any location and weather conditions.

Correction: Performance and limits of 2.0 eV bandgap CuInGaS2 solar absorber integrated with CdS buffer on F:SnO2 substrate for multijunction photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical water splitting devices

Correction for ‘Performance and limits of 2.0 eV bandgap CuInGaS2 solar absorber integrated with CdS buffer on F:SnO2 substrate for multijunction photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical water splitting devices’ by Nicolas Gaillard et al., Mater. Adv., 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D1MA00570G.

Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping System with Reduced Sensors and IMD using the P&O MPPT Algorithm

An efficient photovoltaic (PV) water pumping system requires two most important things: A suitable motor to have an efficient run, and to provide a good control to the photovoltaic system, it needs a proper maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system. Power conversion system has two levels, where, in its first stage of power conversion maximum power from a solar PV system is extracted by control of DC-DC boost converter duty ratio by implementing MPPT control. For the same power injection, the motor power loss needs to be reduced by maintaining a low current profile which is done by proper selection of the motor and its drive. This paper aims to make the most of the amount of extracted energy from solar using different MPPT techniques. The paper is based on an MPPT algorithm that is perturbed and observes (P&O) technique to raise SPV system energy transfer capacity.

Photovoltaic Water Pumping: Comparison Between Direct and Lithium Battery Solutions

This work presents the conversion of a photovoltaic water pumping system (PVWPS) to its corresponding battery-based solution, while maintaining the components of the PVWPS facility and adding the power converter needed to manage the operation of a lithium-ion battery. A complete analysis of the direct PVWPS is performed based on the values obtained by the monitoring system developed for the installation. The efficiencies and performance ratios of the various elements of the facility are calculated, as well as other relevant factors (such as irradiance thresholds). The dependence of some variables on the solar resource is analyzed to model the system. A similar study is carried out in the battery-based solution and a comparative analysis of the two modes of operation is then performed to find which aspects could be improved in the battery-based solution to increase the pumping time and total daily pumped volume. The results presented demonstrate the benefits of including a battery (reduction in start/stop cycles and improved performance on cloudy days). Aspects that can be improved to make the battery-based solution more efficient and achieve better results are suggested.

Techno-economical study of solar water pumping system: optimum design, evaluation, and comparison

Solar water pumping systems are fundamental entities for water transmission and storage purposes whether it is has been used in irrigation or residential applications. The use of photovoltaic (PV) panels to support the electrical requirements of these pumping systems has been executed globally for a long time. However, introducing optimization sizing techniques to such systems can benefit the end-user by saving money, energy, and time. This paper proposed solar water pumping systems optimum design for Oman. The design, and evaluation have been carried out through intuitive, and numerical methods. Based on hourly meteorological data, the simulation used both HOMER software and numerical method using MATLAB code to find the optimum design. The selected location ambient temperature variance from 12.8 °C to 44.5 °C over the year and maximum insolation is 7.45 kWh/m2/day, respectively. The simulation results found the average energy generated, annual yield factor, and a capacity factor of the proposed system is 2.9 kWh, 2016.66 kWh/kWp, and 22.97%, respectively, for a 0.81 kW water pump, which is encouraging compared with similar studied systems. The capital cost of the system is worth it, and the cost of energy has compared with other systems in the literature. The comparison shows the cost of energy to be in favor of the MATLAB simulation results with around 0.24 USD/kWh. The results show successful operation and performance parameters, along with cost evaluation, which proves that PV water pumping systems are promising in Oman.

Control of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System Employing Non-Linear Predictive Control and Fuzzy Logic Control

This contribution proposes a robust control scheme for a two-stage water pumping system based on an induction motor. In the first stage of the system, a boost converter is used for maximum power point tracking, while the second stage consists of a three-phase inverter that regulates the DC-bus voltage and the rotor speed of an induction motor. In order to achieve a fast-tracking of the maximum power, an improved maximum power point tracking algorithm based on a fuzzy logic controller is designed in this paper. On the other hand, a non-linear predictive controller is employed to drive the induction motor, due to its capability to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional field-oriented control. The performances of the proposed control scheme are evaluated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The developed control scheme was compared with the conventional one (Perturb and Observe algorithm for maximum power point tracking and field-oriented control to control the induction motor). It is concluded that the developed control techniques offer excellent performances such as rapid maximum power point tracking, stable output power, and high-quality of power conversion.

Impact of Polyphase Induction Motor on Photovoltaic Water Pumping System

An improved dynamic behavior of water pumping system is presented in this paper. The system consists of a seven-phase induction motor powered by a photovoltaic generator (PVG) and a battery bank, via two static converters controlled independently. A boost converter based on fuzzy logic controller is utilized to adapt the voltage of the photovoltaic generator in order to extract maximum power. A three levels neutral point clamped inverter (NPC) is introduced to attain a low voltage harmonic distortion in the system. In addition, an improved direct field oriented control with minimizing non-sequential currents for the seven-phase induction motor using fuzzy logic filter is implemented. To verify and validate the proposed system, an optimal operating point is chosen to locate the dynamic and static operating limits of the system. Moreover, the proposed system is simulated and analyzed. The minimization of the non-sequential currents component induces a quality energy improvement with minimizing of the Joule losses, which increase the system efficiency. The use of the seven-phase machine brings a degree of additional freedom to the system, its tolerance to faults is a capital issue for the isolated places.

Efficiency and Operation Studies on Renewable Energy Systems as Future Energy Resources

The growth of the renewable energy sector in India has been substantial, including for the production of electricity from renewable sources. Renewable energy is energy produced from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal energy which are renewable (naturally replenished). Even with decentralized systems, the growth of solar lighting systems for private homes was 300%, solar lanterns by 99% and solar photovoltaic water pumps by 196%. This article presents renewable energies. In addition, solar energy, wind energy and biomass are described.

PV Monitoring System for a Water Pumping Scheme with a Lithium-Ion Battery Using Free Open-Source Software and IoT Technologies

The development of photovoltaic (PV) technology is now a reality. The inclusion of lithium-ion batteries in grid-connected PV systems is growing, and the sharp drop in prices for these batteries will enable their use in applications such as PV water pumping schemes (PVWPS). A technical solution for the monitoring and tracking of PV systems is shown in this work, and a novel quasi-real-time monitoring system for a PVWPS with a Li-ion battery is proposed in which open-source Internet of Things (IoT) tools are used. The purpose of the monitoring system is to provide a useful tool for the operation, management, and development of these facilities. The experimental facility used to test the monitoring system includes a 2.4 kWpk photovoltaic field, a 3.6 kVA hybrid inverter, a 3.3 kWh/3 kW lithium-ion battery, a 2.2 kVA variable speed driver, and a 1.5 kW submersible pump. To address this study, data acquisition is performed using commercial hardware solutions that communicate using a Modbus-RTU protocol over an RS485 bus and open software. A Raspberry Pi is used in the data gateway stage, including a PM2 free open-source process manager to increase the robustness and reliability of the monitoring system. Data storage is performed in a server using InfluxDB for open-source database storage and Grafana as open-source data visualization software. Data processing is complemented with a configurable data exporter program that enables users to select and copy the data stored in InfluxDB. Excel or .csv files can be created that include the desired variables with a defined time interval and with the desired data granularity. Finally, the initial results of the monitoring system are presented, and the possible uses of the acquired data and potential users of the system are identified and described.

Exergy, environmental, and performance evaluations of a solar water pump system

The main purpose of this study is the analysis of the exergy efficiency of a photovoltaic water pump system (PVWPS) at different temperatures and radiations that have not been presented in the previous works. For estimation of the exergy efficiency, at first, the optimal design and sizing of the system have been estimated using a specialized software to meet the water demand of potato crop in Isfahan City, Iran. Then, some performance parameters of the system, such as pump flow rate, exergy efficiency as well as some environmental aspects including decrease of environmental pollutants have been evaluated at different months. The results showed that the highest and lowest exergy efficiencies of the proposed PVWPS are 3.56 and 0.27%, respectively. Also, at irradiation values above 900 W/m2, the impact of ambient temperature on the pump power and outlet discharge is not considerable. In addition, using the proposed system with renewable source, leads to decrease of about 4.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere each year.

Linear and Nonlinear Controllers of a Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping System

This paper provided a comparative study between linear and nonlinear controllers of a solar photovoltaic (PV) water pumping system using an induction motor and a centrifugal pump. For linear controller, classical Perturb and Observe was selected to ensure the operation of the PV system at the maximum power point (MPP) and is combined with Indirect Rotor Field Oriented Control (IRFOC) based on a conventional proportional integral speed regulator chosen to control and to optimize the rotor speed. In second and third controllers, Backstepping and first order sliding mode controls were proposed for controlling the whole system. To regulate and optimize rotor speed in the nonlinear controller, all considered control techniques were combined with IRFOC in order to establish easy control laws. In addition, MPP was tracked by acting on the DC-DC converter and using its mathematical model for developing control laws. Maximum delivered power was used as reference signal for optimizing actual rotor speed. The controlled system is operated without mechanical sensors. Estimators of rotor speed and load torque disturbances were proposed based on the mathematical model of induction motor and centrifugal pump and using only available output measurements. Induction motor was supplied by a voltage source inverter controlled using a PWM technique. Stability based on Lyapunov functions of the closed-loop system was evaluated. Simulation results were investigated and reveal some very interesting features and the effectiveness of the nonlinear proposed strategies.

Performance augmentation of solar photovoltaic panel through PCM integrated natural water circulation cooling technique

The performance of the solar photovoltaic (PV) panel is greatly affected by a rise in operating temperature. A combination of phase change material (PCM) and natural water cooling system for effective thermal management of the PV panel is examined to tackle this issue. Experimentation involved incorporating OM 35 PCM at the tedlar surface of the PV panel and water was allowed to flow from the bottom portion of the PCM chamber. Four different cases considering the direction (bottom to top and top to bottom) and period (continuous and maximum allowable temperature mechanism) of cooling water flow were evaluated and compared with the reference panel. Various parameters such as electrical/thermal efficiency, energy balance and exergy analysis of the PV panel with and without cooling are compared and discussed. Experimentation indicated that the performance of the PV panel augmented due to the incorporation of PCM with natural water circulation. Further, it was identified that the top to bottom continuous water supply cooling technique showed better performance than other cases with an increase in average electricity generation, electrical efficiency, power enhancement percentage, average temperature reduction, maximum overall exergy output and exergy efficiency of 11.92%, 12.4%, 13.54%, 5.4 °C, 26.07% and 8.08% respectively.

Impact of Virtual Flow Rate Meter on Brushless DC Motor Based PV-Water Pumping System (Dept.E)

Photovoltaic (PV) water-pumping systems have considerable cost-effective value in rural zones. Virtual flow rate (VFR) meter is a technique to measure the water flow rate through a water pump using a numerical method as a function of the pump head, motor power, and overall efficiency of the pump. VFR meter eliminates the need for rotor speed sensors in PV water pumping systems. In this paper, the virtual flow meter is proposed as a novel reference for improving maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms for PV water-pumping systems. VFR meter removes the expensive flow meter sensors, hence, reducing the overall costs of the system. The VFR will be represented as a new variable in the MPPT algorithm. By replacing the voltage with the instantaneous VFR, the system will operate based on the variation of the VFR meter measurements. Using the physical parameters of a submersible Brushless DC motor pump-based PV water-pumping system, a mathematical model is derived to obtain the input voltage to MPPT algorithm as a function of the instantaneous flow rate. The model is implemented by Mat lab/Simulink software and the results reveal the applicability and efficiency of using the virtual flow meter in MPPT algorithms.

Review of photovoltaic water pumping system research

Currently a considerable and the most economically justified potential of making the solar energy conversion more efficient and making the solar energy more attractive for consumers involves the coordination of the entire equipment from generation to consumption while considering all this equipment as a unified system and taking the degree of satisfaction of the consumer needs as the measure of efficiency. A photovoltaic water pumping system (PVWPS) is the first and one of few types of ground photovoltaic systems where the consumption equipment was always considered from the onset as part of the system. So a retrospective analysis of PVWPS research is of particular interest. This article contains the PVWPS research analysis beginning with the first research conducted in 1964–1966 to date. Discussed herein are the main problems that arose in the PVWPS development, operation, and optimization as well as options of their solution. Various areas of PVWPS improvement research were analyzed, including research involving photovoltaic array structure and photovoltaic modules interconnection; development and improvement of special structures of any components (pumps and invertors, etc.); improvement of photovoltaic array and electric motor interaction, electric motor and pump interaction against the backdrop of irradiance variation and in conjunction with consumption optimization and control improvement, to start with maximum power point tracing. It would make sense to aim further research involving cost reduction, productivity gain, and PVWPS service life extension at the expansion of the fields of PVWPS application, improvement of individual PVWPS components, and a more efficient use of water that is drawn. One of the prospective lines of PVWPS improvement and upgrading is to include them in the system of end user consumption equipment and assess the system efficiency not at the pump output and not in the point of end consumption equipment but after the water consumption. Studying PVWPS with the account of the fact that, in real conditions, the average output power of photovoltaic array depends not only on irradiance but also on the combined effect of all environmental conditions (climatic parameters, current state of atmosphere and air, surrounding objects, etc.) is of great importance, today.

Studies on solar water pumping based micro-irrigation for sustainable vegetable cultivation

The growing demands of energy and water particularly in the present agricultural sector have necessitated the adoption of reliable, environment-friendly and water saving technologies so as to combat against the energy crisis and water stress in near future. It has been established that conventional sources of energy like oil, gas, coal etc. will not be able to provide the desired levels of energy security to mankind in foreseeable future. Hence, there is a global consensus for exploitation and utilization of different renewable energy resources. The search for new options should be eco-friendly as well as abundant in nature. Among the different available renewable energy resources, solar energy seems to be more promising and sustainable. Solar powered agricultural irrigation may be an attractive application for renewable energy in replacing fossil fuel powered irrigation devices to achieve energy security. The use of solar photovoltaic systems may provide good solution not only for all energy related problems of the present society but also perform excellently in terms of productivity, reliability, sustainability and environmental protection ability. Solar photovoltaic water pumping systems can provide water for irrigation without the need for any kind of fuel or the extensive maintenance as required by diesel and electric pump sets. Therefore, an attempt has been made to develop an affordable and portable solar PV water pumping system for irrigating vegetable crops in the state of Odisha. Micro-irrigation method through sprinkler system has been integrated with the solar PV device to achieve judicious utilization of water. Monthly income of Rs. 15,000/- throughout the year was possible by adopting remunerative tomato cultivation in 1 acre of land both during rabi and summer seasons in the year 2017 in coastal region of Odisha. Pay- back period of the developed set up was calculated to be only half year, due to which, it may be easily accepted by the small and marginal farmers of the state in spite of its high initial cost. The popularization of this technology would not only achieve assured water availability to the crops with improved water use efficiency measures by micro-sprinkler irrigation system compared to traditional flooded method of irrigation but also protect the environment against release of green house gases and noise pollution by the use of rising diesel and electric pump sets in the state.

Sensitivity Analysis of Photovoltaic Pumping Systems for Domestic Water Supply

A sensitivity analysis is carried out on the parameters of a photovoltaic water pumping system (PVWPS) for domestic water supply in rural areas. The results show that the photovoltaic modules peak power, the motor-pump efficiency, and the water tank volume strongly influence the system performance. This highlights that these parameters constitute judicious optimization variables. Besides, the cost of the motor-pump, the cost of the water tank, and the lifetime of the PVWPS have the largest impact on the system cost. These six parameters are therefore of primary importance for the technoeconomic optimal sizing of the system. Finally, it is shown that the hydraulic losses play a minor role and that it is not necessary to consider the evolution of the ambient temperature when modeling PVWPS for domestic water supply. This study can be useful to nongovernmental organizations, companies, and governments which install PVWPS for domestic water access. It can help them to determine the accuracy at which a given parameter has to be known to correctly model or size these systems. Besides, it can allow them to evaluate the robustness of PVWPS sizing to parameters variation with time and may guide their choice of components.

Optimization of photovoltaic water pumping systems for date palm irrigation in the Saharan regions of Algeria: increasing economic viability with multiple-crop irrigation

The Saharan regions of Algeria, which represent almost 90% of the total area of the country, have severe energy problems due to insufficient or lack of energy access. The sustainable development of those areas must aim at securing and increasing primary production, especially in the agricultural and pastoral sectors. The production itself depends on the supply of water available at great depths. However, the potential volumes of water pumped by photovoltaic water pumping systems are generally greater than the annual requirements for crop irrigation. In this study, we optimized the photovoltaic array, the storage tank and efficient use of the water produced by the pumping system for the irrigation of one hectare palm grove. This excess water produced was reduced by a judicious association by planting other crops (tomato, wheat and sweet pepper). The utilization rate has been improved from 56% to 86%, on the one hand. On the other hand, the impact of the yield and the prices on the economic viability was studied. The project is economically viable for a price per kg of date of 500.00 DA and a yield varying from 20 to 50 kg/tree, and the payback period varies from 3.34 to 1.22 years. The project is not economically viable for a price per kg of date of 100.00 DA/kg for a yield less than or equal to 30 kg/tree. A sensitivity analysis has shown that the photovoltaic water pumping system becomes more competitive than conventional diesel water pumping systems for diesel price beyond 53.98 DA/l (0.38 €). The results are very encouraging for the wide use of photovoltaic water pumping systems for multiple-crop irrigation in the Saharan regions.