280
SOLAR POWERED WATER PUMPS: PROBLEMS, PITFALLS AND POTENTIAL
T. D. Short, M. A. Mueller
University of Durham, United Kingdom
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 life-
transforming technology.
INTRODUCTION
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
Figure 1 PV pump system schematic
Power Electronics.Machines and Drives, 16-1 8 April 2002,
Conference PublicationNo.487.Q IEE 2002
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?
PRESENT SYSTEMS : COMPONENTS &
PROBLEMS
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 controller’s 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.
c
c
L
Figure 2 PV and pump characteristics
 28 1
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.
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
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 40°C 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
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 electro-
mechanical 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.

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
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
1
I
I
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.
F = pgh,Apipe+ pghzApi,,,
The first term represents the force due to the outlet
282
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.
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.
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 :
2
where B is the airgap flux density and po is the
permeability of air.
1
 283

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.

m m*d,am/er
DESIGN STUDY

F - :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)

nor,

r0,
Because of the physical limitations it is anticipated that
S.pokL 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

s.aiqa
S. ,mn *r
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.
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.

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
 284

120w 80

-
a
U0
8000
U l 60w
4000
0 ~ O ~ 1
lo
60

40
30
20
I

. .
.

ml
..... 0.3 11s
- .- .0.3511s

2000 .. - _.--..____
0
0 2 4 6
airgap (mm)
I. . ... 100 mm -1sOmm
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.
10
8 10 0 50 100
diameter (mm)
I
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 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
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

80 from the PV panel some control may be required to
IO maintain this current taking into account the rising
-E 60 -0.15 11s inductance and operating point on the I-V
50 . . . . . 0.2 11s characteristic.

30
Design Summary
_5
0
0 20 40 60 80
Based on the fmdings in the design study performance
diameter (mml
parameters have been generated using the simple
model for a low and high head. The results are shown
Figure 7 : Head vs pipe diameter at different swept
in Table 2. The results imply that the pump system can
volumes at f=lOHz
operate over a wide range of beads, only requiring an
increase in.supply voltage as the head increases.
 285
3.
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 6.
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 7.
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 8.
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.
9.
CONCLUSION
IO
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 11.
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 12.
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.
13.
In conclusion a solution has been proposed, which
shows potential in terms of reliability, cost and ease of
maintenance.
14.
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