International Journal of Physical Sciences Vol. 7(48), pp.

6169-6180, 23 December, 2012

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/IJPS
DOI: 10.5897/IJPSX12.001
ISSN 1992 - 1950 ©2012 Academic Journals

Review

Factors influencing the performance and efficiency of

solar water pumping systems: A review
Rupert Gouws* and Thendo Lukhwareni
Faculty of Engineering, School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, North-West University,
Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.
Accepted 5 November, 2012

The world is having an energy crisis and currently there is a strong drive towards renewable energy. A
renewable energy option is solar energy, where by means of photovoltaic (PV) modules electrical
energy can be produced. A residential as well as industrial application for these PV modules is solar
water pumping systems. Disadvantages of solar water pumping systems are low performance and low
energy efficiency. This paper provides a review on the factors that influence the performance and
efficiency of solar water pumping systems, with a specific focus to South Africa. The principle factors
discussed include: 1) environmental conditions, 2) PV panels, 3) controllers, 4) energy storages, 5)
converters and inverters, and 6) pumps and motors.

Key words: Solar water pumping, photovoltaic, performance, efficiency.

INTRODUCTION

This paper provides a review on the factors that influence in parallel?). The type of controller and storage medium
the performance and efficiency of a solar water pumping used influences the performance and efficiency of the
system, with a specific focus to South Africa. A solar system. The controllers are therefore divided into: 1)
water pumping system is typically constructed of: 1) maximum power point tracking (MPPT), 2) charge
photovoltaic (PV) module(s), 2) controller(s), 3) water controllers and 3) other controllers. The energy storages
and/or energy storage, 4) converter(s) or inverter(s) and are divided into: 1) water storage and 2) batteries and
5) motor/-pump combination, as shown in Figure 1. When other storage. The pump motor of the solar water
analyzing the performance and efficiency of a solar water pumping system can run either on direct current (DC) or
pumping system, the environmental conditions must be on alternating current (AC), so the converters/inverters
considered. For this paper, a selection of the factors with are divided into: 1) DC-DC converters and 2) DC-AC
the largest impact on the performance and efficiency of inverters. The pump/motors are divided into: 1) DC
the system are discussed, but other factors of lesser borehole pumps, 2) AC swimming pool pumps and 3)
impact are not. other water pumps. For this paper, the focus is
The most important environmental factors are: 1) solar specifically on DC borehole pumps and AC swimming
irradiation, 2) meteorological data and 3) air mass and pool pumps.
indirect radiation. The factors influencing the performance Average solar-radiation levels in South Africa are
2
and efficiency of the PV panel are: 1) the type of PV between 4.5 and 6.5 kWh/m in one day and most areas
material used, 2) the tilt angle and azimuth, 3) average more than 2500 h of sunlight per year in South
characteristics of the PV cell, and 4) PV array Africa (Department of Energy, 2012). Solar power is
arrangement (for example, how many modules in the increasingly being used for water pumping through the
panel are in series and how many panels in the array are rural water-provision and sanitation programme of the
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (Department of
Water, 2012). Solar water disinfection projects in areas
where people do to not have access to safe drinking
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: water and solar powered waste water management
+27 18 299 1902. Fax: +27 18 299 1977. systems are currently been overseen by the department
6170 Int. J. Phys. Sci.

Water storage
Energy
storages Batteries and
other storage

Environmental Converters/
PV panel Controllers Pumps/Motors
conditions Inverters

Solar PV material DC-DC DC Borehole

MPPT
irradiation types converters pumps
Meteorological Tilt angle and Charge DC-AC AC Swimming
data Azimuth controller inverters pool pumps
Air mass and Characteristics Other Other water
Indirect rad. of PV cells controllers pumps

Figure 1. Factors influencing the performance and efficiency of a solar water pumping system.

2
of water affairs and forestry (Department of Water, 2012). of watts per square meter (W/m ). The amount of the
Most solar PV water pumping systems store water solar irradiance for a specific location is important in the
instead of electricity. Adding batteries usually doubles the optimization of a PV system (Markvart and Castaner,
cost of the system due to the battery cost, short battery 2003). Different parts of the world have different solar
life, and the additional maintenance with batteries. For irradiance levels.
water storage, the only additional expense is the storage In South Africa, the solar irradiation average is highly
tank. Usually, the storage tank is sized for most number compared to the USA and Europe, who are the leading
of days without sunshine (enclosed tank will prevent continents in solar power generation. The amount of
evaporation). Another option is to oversize PV array, so sunshine in South Africa is estimated at 2500 h/year and
water is pumped on cloudy days with no need for storage the annual 24 h solar radiation average is estimated at
2 2
at all. Another effect on performance is fixed versus 220 W/m compared to 100 and 150 W/m for the USA
passive and motorized tracking for PV panels. The and Europe, respectively (Department of Energy, 2012).
sections in Figure 1 provide a review on each of the Figure 2 provides a map of the average radiation of
2
factors mentioned. South Africa expressed in Wh/m (Swera, 1998). The
data was obtained from satellite observations and was
captured by the United States National renewable energy
Environmental conditions laboratory (NREL). From this figure, it can be seen that
the western half of South Africa has the highest solar
This section provides a review on the environmental irradiation. The number of PV panels required in a solar
conditions that influence the performance and efficiency power system is calculated from the power required by
of a PV system or solar water pumping system. The the load and the solar irradiance of that specific area. The
environmental conditions must be used as input data higher the solar irradiance, the higher the power
during the design of a PV system. The following factors produced by the PV panels, therefore, reducing the
are discussed in this section: 1) solar irradiation, 2) number of PV panels required. Solar irradiation therefore
meteorological data and 3) air mass and indirect has an influence on the performance of the solar power
radiation. system.

SOLAR IRRADIATION METEOROLOGICAL DATA

Sunshine is the most important component for a PV Table 1 provides the meteorological data for
system. Solar radiation is the term that refers to photons Potchefstroom (South Africa) as obtained by the NASA
(or electromagnetic waves) generated by the sun. It is Langley research centre - atmospheric science data
important to note that solar radiation is in units of energy. centre (Gaisma, 2012). It can be calculated from Table 1
Solar irradiation on the other hand is the solar power that the average daily solar energy in Potchefstroom is
2
incident per unit area on the earth’s surface in units 5.5 kWh/m /day, which translates to 5.5 h of sunshine per
 Gouws and Lukhwareni 6171

Figure 2. Solar irradiation map of South Africa (Swera, 1998).

Table 1. Meteorological data for Potchefstroom (South Africa) (Gaisma, 2012).

Parameter Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual average
Irradiation (kWh/m2/day) 6.55 5.92 5.24 4.58 4.04 3.64 3.92 4.67 5.57 5.86 6.36 6.57 5.24
Irradiation (kWh/m2/month) 203 172 162 137 125 113 122 145 173 182 197 204 161.25
Clearness (0 - 1) 0.56 0.54 0.54 0.58 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.65 0.63 0.57 0.55 0.55 0.59
Temperature (°C) 22.4 22.1 21.1 18.7 14.8 10.8 10.9 14.2 18.3 20.1 20.9 21.3 17.97

day, since PV modules are tested and designed at the increases when the clearness index increases and the air
2
standard test condition of 1000 W/m . mass decreases. The amount of solar irradiation in a
The fraction of insolation at the top of the atmosphere, specific area has a direct influence on the temperature of
which reaches the surface of the earth, can be defined as that same area. The temperature data provided in Table
the clearness index. Solar radiation data are often also 1 is the average temperature for each month of the year
presented in a dimensionless form called the clearness for the Potchefstroom area. If the solar irradiation levels
index. Clearness and temperature has a direct influence for a specific area are unknown, the temperature values
on the irradiation levels. When designing a PV system, can be used during the design of the solar PV system.
the meteorological data of the specific area must be
taken into account, since the data has a direct influence
on the performance of PV system. According to Nakada AIR MASS AND INDIRECT RADIATION
et al. (2010), the clearness index and air mass strongly
affect the intensity of solar irradiation and the spectral The three main types of radiation are direct, diffuse and
irradiance distribution, and the average photon energy reflected radiation (Demain et al., 2012). Reflected
6172 Int. J. Phys. Sci.

Table 2. PV material efficiencies (Gosse et al., 2007).

Material Typical efficiencies (%) Laboratory efficiency (%)

Gallium arsenide 20 32
Mono-crystalline silicon 14 - 17 25
Polycrystalline silicon 11.5 - 14 20
Copper Indium gallium selenide (CIGS) 9 - 11.5 19
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) 8 - 10 16.5
Amorphous silicon 5 - 9.5 13

radiation by the earth’s surface can increase the PV influence the performance and efficiency of the PV
panel’s power output. Diffuse radiation is solar radiation, panels. The factors mentioned in this section are
which has been scattered by particles in the atmosphere variables and must be optimally selected in order to
before impacting the PV panels. All these contribute maximize the performance and efficiency of the PV
towards the total irradiation for a specific area. Various system. The factors discussed in this section: 1) PV
factors affect the sun’s rays before they reach the surface material types, 2) tilt angles and azimuth and 3)
of the earth. The amount of solar radiation received by a characteristics of PV cells.
surface that is always held vertical to the rays that come PV modules are used for the conversion of solar
in a direct line from the path of the sun is defined as energy into electric energy. PV modules consist of solar
direct normal irradiance (DNI). The amount of radiant cells, which are made up of two layers of semiconductor
2
energy released by the sun that fall each second on 1 m materials. Electric field is built in the p-n junction between
outside the earth's atmosphere over all wavelengths is the semiconductor materials. The absorption of photons
defined as total solar irradiance (TSI). of energy greater than the band gap energy of the
The sun’s radiation is scattered and absorbed as it semiconductor promotes electrons from the valence band
passes through the atmosphere, which reduces the to the conduction band, creating hole-electron pairs
intensity. All this depends on the temperature and the throughout the illuminated part of the semiconductor
water vapour content of the air in a particular area, which (Markvart and Castaner, 2003). DC power is generated in
is referred to as air mass. The maximum radiation is the external contacts when the electron and hole pairs
received when the sun is directly above a specific area; flow in different directions in the p-n junction. Solar cells
this is called zenith and it is the shortest distance from typically produce low voltages of around 0.5 V each; a
the sun to that specific area. The sun angular position combination of solar cells is therefore connected in series
affects the performance of the PV panels. The standard to form a PV module with a higher voltage and power
test and design condition for PV panels is performed at output (Markvart and Castaner, 2003).
an air mass factor of 1.5. This standard test and design
condition is applicable for the Potchefstroom area, but
recalculation is required for areas with a lower or higher PV MATERIAL TYPES
air mass factor. Shnishil et al. (2011) presented the
influence of air mass on the performance of many types Solar cells are manufactured as crystalline or thin film.
of PV modules in Baghdad. According to Shnishil et al. Crystalline type PV cells are higher in efficiency than thin
(2011), the performance of triple-junction amorphous film, but some thin film (like cadmium-telluride) is also
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) popular, because they have lower cost. Table 2 provides
insulated modules and triple-junction amorphous Sandia the efficiencies of the most used PV cell materials (Gosse
National Laboratories (SNL) uninsulated modules are the et al., 2007).
best type at a small air mass, while at a large air mass As shown in Table 2, gallium arsenide has the best
other types give larger maximum output power. efficiency, but it is the most unpopular due to its high cost
Indirect radiation has an influence on the performance (Gosse et al., 2007). Mono-crystalline and polycrystalline
of the solar panels and therefore has an influence on the silicon are the most popular materials because of their
performance of the complete solar water pumping low costs compared to gallium arsenide (Gosse et al.,
system. Indirect radiation therefore cannot be studies 2007). The efficiency of mono-crystalline and
separately. polycrystalline silicon is higher than thin film materials.
Mono-crystalline has a slightly higher efficiency when
compared to polycrystalline, but there is almost no
PhotoVoltaic panels difference in cost. Mono-crystalline silicon PV panels are
therefore a good option for a solar water pumping
This section provides a review on the factors that system. Murata et al. (2003) proposed a new type of PV
 Gouws and Lukhwareni 6173

Figure 3. Sun paths at Potchefstroom (Mermoud, 2012).

in one position with the optimum tilt angle selected

though simulation of the PV panels under specific area
conditions. Some PV panels use a sun tracker to
constantly change the tilt angle in order to receive
maximum sunlight constantly. Azimuth is the angle
measured between the true north and the position of the
sun at a specific time. Figure 3 provides the path of the
sun for the Potchefstroom area (Mermoud, 2012). The
sun’s path is used to get the perfect azimuth angle for a
specific area. By adjusting the tilt angle and the azimuth
angle, the PV panel can be positioned for optimum
performance and efficiency. Yen et al. (2009) provided
results on the performance evaluation of large tilt angle
PV systems in Taiwan. According to Yen et al. (2009),
Figure 4. Characteristics curves of a PV cell
(Rakotomananandro, 2011). the results show that the inclination (tilt) angle has more
effects on the final yields than the azimuth. Motorized
tracking can also increase the performance of the PV
system, but could lead to an increase in maintenance.
module integrated with roofing material, which is a highly The gain in energy from a motorized tracking system
fire-resistant PV tile. According to Murata et al. (2003), it therefore has to be compared with the gain in energy by
offers a lower cost, simpler construction, better design, just adding more modules in a fixed array.
and a greater fire resistance PV module. There are
however several reasons why higher voltage PV modules
are preferable over lower voltage modules. CHARACTERISTICS OF PV CELLS

Figure 4 provides the current-voltage (I-V) and the power-

TILT ANGLE AND AZIMUTH voltage (P-V) characteristic curves for a PV cell
(Rakotomananandro, 2011). From this figure, it can be
In order to optimize the performance and efficiency of a seen that when the solar irradiation increases, the
PV system, the tilt angle and azimuth need to be taken voltage and current also increases. When the cell
into account. The tilt angle is the angle between the temperature increases, the voltage decreases while the
earth’s surface and the PV panel. Most panels are fixed current slightly increases. The open circuit voltage (Voc) is
6174 Int. J. Phys. Sci.

(a)

Current (A)
Current (A)

(b)

Voltage (V) Voltage (V)

Figure 5. Effects of a) solar irradiance and b) cell temperature on the I-V curve (Park and Yu, 2004).

the maximum voltage supplied at zero current and the controllers and 3) other controllers.
short circuit current (Isc) is the maximum current supplied
when the voltage is zero. The P-V profile shows that
there is a maximum power point in the I-V curve where MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING
the solar cell can generate maximum power at any solar
irradiance level (Pmax = Vmpp x Impp), where Vmpp is the The MPPT controller operates the PV module at the
maximum power voltage and Impp is the maximum power maximum power point of the solar cells at all times
current. To optimize the performance of the PV panel, it despite the load requirements. Since the power
must be operated where the solar cell can generate harvested from the PV module is different at different
maximum power (Pmax). operating points, it is important that the load is matched
The maximum voltage (Voc) and the maximum current in such a way that maximum power is obtained from the
limit the power that can be produced by the solar cell (Isc). PV module (Hussein et al., 1995). PV modules are
The effects of the solar irradiation on the I-V expensive, it is therefore important to operate them at the
characteristics are shown in Figure 5a. From this figure, it maximum power point. If a load is directly connected to
can be seen that the current increases as the irradiance the PV module, the module will operate depending on the
level of the sun increases (Park and Yu, 2004). load voltage and current. The intersection between the I-
The temperature of the solar cell itself affects the V profile of the load and I-V profile of the PV module is
performance of the cell. From Figure 5b, we can see that the point at which the PV module operates (Sullivan and
an increase in the temperature of the cell decreases the Powers, 1993). The load line therefore determines where
open circuit voltage (Voc), while the short circuit current the PV modules will operate when connected directly
(Isc) slightly increases (Park and Yu, 2004). An increase onto the PV module.
in the cell’s temperature therefore decreases the A MPPT controller is connected between the PV
efficiency of the system (Park and Yu, 2004). Durgadevi module and the load allowing the PV module to operate
et al. (2011) provided an article on PV modelling and PV at the maximum power point. The control of a PV module
characteristics. According to Durgadevi et al. (2011), the can either be closed loop control or open loop control.
maximum power point varies with illumination, Most MPPTs use the ‘perturb and observe’ (P&O)
temperature, radiation dose and other aging effects. approach, which is implemented by a hill climbing
algorithm usually on a microcontroller (Sullivan and
Powers, 1993). This approach is complicated, can be
Controllers slow, and become ‘confused’ if the irradiance conditions
are changing rapidly and frequently (Hussein et al.,
This section provides a review on the controllers for a 1995).
solar water pumping system. The performance and The P&O algorithm operates by varying the PV module
efficiency of the system can be increased by selecting the voltage around the maximum power voltage (Vpm). The
appropriate controller. The following types of controllers output power is assessed and the input voltage and
are discussed in this section: 1) MPPT, 2) charge current are adjusted accordingly. If the output provides an
 Gouws and Lukhwareni 6175

increase in power, the algorithm continues in the same fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for MPPT in a grid-connected
direction and if the output gives a decrease in power, the PV inverter. Putri and Rifa’i (2012) proposed a neural
algorithm changes to the opposite direction. Alternatives fuzzy controller for controlling the PV system output
to the P&O approach have been suggested (Brambilla et voltage by using a buck converter to operate at the
al., 1999; Hussein et al., 1995; Midya et al., 1996). maximum power point. According to Putri and Rifa’i
(2012), their PV system can operate at the maximum
power point even though the module temperature and
CHARGE CONTROLLERS sun irradiation are shifting the maximum power point.
Cirstea and Parera-Ruiz (2010) proposed a field-
Charge controllers are used to protect batteries from programmable gate array (FPGA) controller for a
overcharging and excessive discharging, and are only combined solar/wind power system. According to Cirstea
applicable to solar water pumping systems that make use and Parera-Ruiz (2010), this approach enables the
of batteries. Most solar water pumping systems do not design and fast hardware implementation of efficient
have charge controllers or batteries and only store water controllers for distributed energy resource hybrid
in a tank. The charge controller is designed to prolong the systems. Ellouze et al. (2010) proposed a sliding mode
lifetime of the battery. If the charging process continues controller for a PV water pumping system. According to
when the battery is fully charged, it can damage the Ellouze et al. (2010), the use of the nonlinear sliding
battery with the excessive voltage. Electrolyte loss and mode method provides a very good performance for
internal heating are some of the reasons the battery is motor operation and robustness of the control law despite
damaged. The controller stops the charging of the battery the external/internal perturbation.
as soon as the battery is fully charged by limiting the
current flow. When the battery does not have enough
capacity to supply the load and there is no current being Energy storage
generated by the PV module, the controller disconnects
the batteries from the load because excessive discharge This section provides a review on the storage devices for
can also reduce battery life. a solar water pumping system. The performance and
Most MPPT controllers incorporate the battery charge efficiency can be increased by choosing the appropriate
controlling function. When the power demand of the load storage device. The following types of energy storage are
is lower than the energy produced by the PV modules, discussed: 1) water storage and 2) batteries and other
the excess power is diverted to the charging of the storage.
batteries. Once the batteries are fully charged, the MPPT Stand-alone PV systems have an option of backup
controller then has to move from operating at the batteries. The components for a PV system without
maximum power point to producing only power that backup batteries are less, but energy is only available
matches the demand. A charge controller can prolong the when the sun is shining. The performance of a PV
life cycle of a battery, which in turn has an effects on the system is affected by external factors such as
performance and efficiency of the system. temperature, load variation and solar radiation. A system
Masheleni and Carelse (1997) proposed a without backup batteries requires accurate design to
microcontroller-based charge controller for a stand-alone accommodate these external factors. Most systems have
PV system. According to Masheleni and Carelse (1997), backup batteries for energy storage when the PV system
charge controllers are required to improve the efficiency is unable to satisfy the load requirements. Batteries can
of the system and to protect the storage batteries. Huang also supply energy during the night. Storage batteries are
et al. (2010) presented an article on system dynamic however not widely used in solar water pumping systems.
modelling and charging control of a lead-acid battery for a
stand-alone solar PV system. According to Huang et al.
(2010), the battery charging control is usually designed to WATER STORAGE
stop charging after the overcharge point. Test results
performed by Huang et al. (2010) indicated that the Almost all existing pumping systems use water storage.
control system is able to increase the charged energy to Some systems however make use of energy storage
78%, as compared to the case when the charging stops devices in order to circulate water during the night period
after the overcharge point. (for special applications) and other systems use the
battery to supply a constant current to the motor
(normally applicable where the solar modules are under
OTHER CONTROLLERS designed for the specific solar water pumping system in
order to save installation cost). Therefore, irrespective of
Letting et al. (2012) presented the implementation of a the amount of power supplied by the solar panels, the
particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm as a C-Mex motor will maintain a constant rotational speed.
S-function. The algorithm is used to optimize a 9-rule Bakelli et al. (2011) proposed a solution for optimal
6176 Int. J. Phys. Sci.

Table 3. Flooded lead-acid batteries compared to valve regulated lead-acid batteries (Trojan, 2012).

Flooded lead-acid batteries Valve regulated lead-acid batteries (Gel-cell)

High maintenance Less maintenance
Occasional filling of water when electrolyte evaporates Enclosed electrolyte so no water filling
Release of hydrogen Longer life
Must be kept upright More robust

sizing of a PV pumping system with a water storage tank small electronic equipment, because they can come in
by using the loss of power supply probability (LPSP) smaller sizes. The downside is that they are expensive
concept. This proposed solution makes use of two and therefore not suitable for use in large applications
optimization criteria’s, the LPSP concept for the reliability such as water pumping systems.
and the life cycle cost (LCC) for the economic evaluation. Ongaro et al. (2012) proposed a power management
According to Bakelli et al. (2011), a case study designed architecture that utilizes both super-capacitor cells and a
to supply drinking water in remote and scattered small lithium battery as energy storages for a PV-based
villages situated in Ghardaia, Algeria was conducted. wireless sensor network. According to Ongaro et al.
Qing (2007) proposed a MPPT controller for a PV (2012), by combining the two storages, it is possible to
pumping system (PVPS) and a novel scheme with double obtain a good compromise in terms of energy density.
pumps to improve efficiency of PVPS. According to Qing Glavin et al. (2008) proposed a stand-alone PV super-
(2007), the pump with higher head works when solar capacitor battery hybrid energy storage system.
irradiation is weak, while the pump with lower head is According to Glavin et al. (2008), the simulation results
automatically switched on to work when solar irradiation showed that the hybrid storage system can achieve
is powerful. higher specific power compared to the battery storage
system.
Paska and Biczel (2005) proposed a concept hybrid
BATTERIES AND OTHER STORAGE solar wind power plant with a fuel cell, where energy is
produced by a fuel cell when there is no solar energy.
Batteries are used for special applications of solar water According to Paska and Biczel (2005), it is possible to
pumping systems, where pumping is required during the build a hybrid solar and fuel cell power plant, which
night. The use of batteries can lead to: 1) decrease in allows optimal utilization of the renewable uncontrolled
performance of the pumping system, 2) decrease in the primary energy carrier. Moghaddam and Hajizadeh
reliability of pumping system especially in an arid (2010) proposed a hybrid power system based on a DC
environment and 3) increases in the cost of pumping coupled hybrid PV/fuel cell/battery power system that
system. supports the local grid. According to Moghaddam and
There are many different types of batteries available. For Hajizadeh (2010), the main idea of the control strategy is
solar systems, the cycle life of a battery is very important. to utilize the PV energy to the maximum by using MPPT;
The cycle life of a battery is the number of times it can be the rest of the power that cannot be met by the PV is
charged and discharged. For solar systems, a battery supplied by the fuel cell.
that can handle only about 10 cycles (for example, most Villela et al. (2010) proposed a small-scale compressed
lead acid batteries) is not suitable. Solar systems require air energy storage (CAES) system that can work in
a high number of cycles (for example, deep cycle conjunction with individual PV panels. According to Villela
batteries), that can handle thousands of cycles (Trojan, et al. (2010), the work represents an important step
2012). towards developing a low-power high efficiency CAES
Lead-acid batteries are the most commonly used storage system that can work seamlessly with PV panels.
battery type for solar applications, because of the low
cost and low maintenance (Trojan, 2012). There are
different types of lead-acid batteries and in this section, Converters/inverters
we compare flooded lead-acid batteries to valve-
regulated lead-acid batteries. For batteries to last longer, Power electronic converters are used in PV systems to
deep discharges must be avoided and must be kept convert the DC voltage to a higher or lower DC voltage
charged for as long as possible. From Table 3, we can and to convert DC to AC voltage (Rashid, 2001). This
see that the gel-cell battery is the better option battery for section provides a review on the DC-DC converter and
solar systems, as it has less maintenance, more robust the DC-AC inverter for a solar water pumping system. To
and has a longer lifetime. optimize the performance and efficiency of the system,
Other types like lithium and nickel metal hydride are the correct inverter has to be selected for a chosen
popular with laptop computers, cell phone and other pump.
 Gouws and Lukhwareni 6177

DC-DC BUCK/BOOST CONVERTER and switching on another must be kept as short as

possible. This particular time is referred to as the
DC-DC converters are used to adjust the DC output blanking time. Blanking time mostly depends on the
voltage to the required value. These converters are often switching device used.
incorporated into the MPPT controller to boost the Tirumala et al. (2002) proposed an efficient, low cost
voltage from the PV panels (Rashid, 2001). The buck DC-AC inverter for PV systems with increased reliability.
converter is used to step down the DC voltage for According to Tirumala et al. (2002), the proposed
applications that require a lower voltage than that being modular approach helps to increase the reliability of the
produced by the PV modules. The circuit of the buck system by introducing redundancy, while lowering the
converter consists of a power electronic switch, an cost by having identical modules in parallel. Ribeiro et al.
inductor and a diode. To smooth the output of the (2010) proposed a single-stage DC-AC converter for PV
converter, a capacitor is used (Mohan et al., 2003; systems. According to Ribeiro et al. (2010), a DC-DC
Rashid, 2001). Mohan et al. (2003) specified that the converter is merged with an inverter in a single-stage
output voltage across the inductor can be calculated by topology to be used as an interface converter between
Vo = [ton/(ton + toff)]Vs = D.Vs, where ton is the amount of the PV systems and the AC utility grid.
time the switch is on and toff is the amount of time when
the switch is off. The output voltage is always lower or
equal to the input voltage. The output voltage can be Pumps/motors
controlled by adjusting the duty ratio (D).
A boost converter is used to increase the voltage Pumps come in different sizes and shapes. This section
output of the PV modules. The boost converter consists provides a review on the pumps for a solar water
of a power electronic switch, an inductor and a diode pumping system. The performance and efficiency of the
(Mohan et al., 2003; Rashid, 2001). The boost converter system can be increased by choosing the appropriate
operates in continuous conduction mode and pump. The following types of pumps are discussed: 1)
discontinuous mode depending on the energy storage DC borehole pumps and 2) AC swimming pool pumps.
capacity together with switching times. The diode is
reversed biased when the switch is on and it isolates the
output voltage; during this time, the inductor stores DC BOREHOLE PUMPS
energy from the input voltage. When the switch is off the
output voltage becomes the sum of the energy from the Motor-pump units are available in DC and AC for
input voltage and the energy from the inductor. The borehole pumps. DC motor pumps are however more
output voltage can be calculated by Vo = [1/1-D]Vd, where commonly used in South Africa, since no conversion of
Vd is the input voltage, Vo is the output voltage and D is energy is required. This section therefore only focus on
the duty cycle. The output voltage (Vo) will always be DC borehole pumps.
higher or equal to the input voltage (Vd) and can be Water pumps are selected depending on water needs;
controlled by adjusting the duty cycle (Mohan et al., the higher the amount of water pumped, the higher the
2003). energy demand. In rural areas, the water consumption
per person per day is 122 litres, whereas a typical urban
household has a water consumption of 250 L/person/day
DC-AC INVERTERS (Keshavarzi et al., 2006). Table 4 provides the typical
pump sizes for DC borehole pumps (Agriworld, 2012). To
The DC-AC inverter is used in PV systems that have AC optimize the performance and efficiency of a solar water
loads. The loads can either be single-phase or three pumping system, the correct size motor need to be
phase. Typical DC-AC inverters come in different forms identified from the amount of litres required per day.
such as full-bridge inverter (single or three phases), half- Choosing a too large motor is inefficient if the whole
bridge diode clamp, and frequency-commutated current system was not designed for that specific motor.
source inverter. The full bridge inverter is the most Figure 6 provides a solution that does not require a
commonly used in PV systems (Kjaer et al., 2005). battery backup (Akihiro, 2005). The pump only works
A full bridge three-phase inverter consists of four when the sun is shining and stores the water for future
switches that are controlled in such a way that the two usage. The system pumps water from a well. The PV
switches on the same branch are never switched on at module in the system is a single BS SX 150S mono–
the same time. If any of the two switches is on, one crystalline PV module. Each module produces a
branch is switched on at the same time the DC source is maximum power of 150 W (Markvart and Castaner,
short-circuited. Modulation techniques used to control the 2003). The MPPT is constructed of a switch-mode DC-
switches include pulse width modulation (PWM) and DC converter and a controller (Akihiro, 2005).
square wave inverting. To avoid short-circuiting, the DC The DC-DC converter boost the DC voltage from the
source the time interval between switching off one switch, PV panels and the controller maximizes the output of the
6178 Int. J. Phys. Sci.

Table 4. Typical pumps sizes for DC borehole pumps (Agriworld, 2012).

Motor size (W) Litres/hour Litres/day (5.5 h of sunshine)

550 1,000 5,500
750 3,100 17,000
1,100 4,800 26,000
3,000 6,000 33,000
9,000 35,000 192,500

Figure 6. PV water pumping system (Akihiro, 2005).

Table 5. Recommended pool pump sizes (Delport and Marais, 1995).

Pool size (L) Motor size (W) Flow rate (L/min)

41,400 450 115
59,400 600 165
79,200 750 220
108,600 1,100 300

PV panel by making sure it always operates at its pools for filtering and have to operate between 5 to 12 h
maximum power point. The water pump used in this a day depending on the pool and pump size. Pool pumps
system is a Kyocera SD 12 to 30 submersible solar installed in South Africa range from 0.45 to 1.1 kW, which
pump, which has a rated maximum power usage of 150 on average translates to 0.6 GW of installed capacity,
W. This pump is a diaphragm-type positive displacement which can meet the energy demands of around 500,000
pump equipped with a brushed permanent magnet DC households (Ndlovu, 2008). Table 5 provides the
motor and designed for use in standalone water delivery suppliers recommended pool pump sizes (Delport and
systems (Akihiro, 2005). The system produce a daily Marais, 1995). To optimize the performance and
output of up to 5000 L, flow rates of up to 17 L/min and efficiency of a solar water pumping system, the correct
heads of up to 30 m. The disadvantage of this solution is size motor must be chosen for a specific size pool.
that it will not work during cloudy days. A battery bank Figure 7 provides a solution that also does not require
should be incorporated in the design for applications a battery bank, because it uses a storage water tank for
requiring a constant supply of water (Kyocera, 2001; use when the PV panels are not generating electricity
Sunpumps, 2012). Normally batteries are not preferred (Daud and Mahmoud, 2005). This system (Figure 7) is
and storage is usually done in the form of a water storage made up of four PV strings connected in parallel with
tank. each string made up of 14 PV modules. The PV
generator can provide the DC-AC inverter with a
maximum of 230 VDC and the inverter can provide the
AC SWIMMING POOL PUMPS motor with up to 127 VAC (Daud and Mahmoud, 2005). An
efficiency analysis of the pump is required, in order to
Pool pumps are used to circulate the water in swimming operate the system as effectively as possible
 Gouws and Lukhwareni 6179

Figure 7. Schematic diagram of a PV power pumping system (Daud and

Mahmoud, 2005).

(Gouws, 2012). energy storages like super-capacitor, fuel cells and

compressed air can also be used. The price,
maintenance and reliability of these storages however,
Conclusions need to be taken into account. The user can decide on
either a DC motor or an AC motor for the pump
This paper provided a review on the factors that influence combination. AC induction motors are more energy
the performance and efficiency of a solar water pumping efficient than DC motors, but the losses of the DC-AC
system. It is shown from literature that solar irradiation, inverter must be taken into account. Swimming pools
meteorological data, air mass and diffuse radiation are normally have an asynchronous induction motor pump
important factors that influence the performance and configuration, which the user would prefer to use. The
efficiency of a solar water pumping system. The PV panel size of this pump however might not be the best option in
of the solar water pumping system is influenced by the terms of performance and efficiency and need to be
type of PV material used, the tilt angle, azimuth and resized according to the specifications of the solar water
characteristics of the PV cell. Mono-crystalline silicon pumping system.
seems to be a good option for PV panels, since it has a To design a solar water pumping system to operate at
high efficiency and an affordable price. The type of maximum efficiency and performance, the needs,
controller and storage medium used influences the characteristics of the water source and the characteristics
performance and efficiency of the system. A good option of the installation site (environmental conditions) have to
for a controller is the MPPT controller, since it maximizes be taken into account.
the efficiency of the PV panel. Other control like sliding World Water and Solar Technologies, Inc. (WWST) has
mode control and FLC can also be used, but it is not successfully completed solar-powered irrigation projects
commonly used in the industry. in California, New Jersey, USA and Egypt (Arab Water
The most popular storage for off-grid solar powered World, 2010). In 2004, World Water completed the
water pumping is a storage tank for the water. Other world’s largest solar-powered irrigation system at Seley
6180 Int. J. Phys. Sci.

Ranches (Borrego Springs, California). This standalone Masheleni H, Carelse XF (1997). Microcontroller-based charge
controller for stand-alone photovoltaic systems. Sol. Energy.
system is capable of driving a 200 hp pump by using only
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