Energy Conversion and Management: M. Benghanem, K.O. Daffallah, A.A. Joraid, S.N. Alamri, A. Jaber
Energy Conversion and Management: M. Benghanem, K.O. Daffallah, A.A. Joraid, S.N. Alamri, A. Jaber
Energy Conversion and Management: M. Benghanem, K.O. Daffallah, A.A. Joraid, S.N. Alamri, A. Jaber
Performances of solar water pumping system using helical pump for a deep well:
A case study for Madinah, Saudi Arabia
M. Benghanem ⇑, K.O. Daffallah, A.A. Joraid, S.N. Alamri, A. Jaber
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, P.O. Box 344, Madinah, Saudi Arabia
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The photovoltaic water pumping systems (PVWPS) constitute a potential option to draw down water in
Received 15 June 2012 the remote desert locations for domestic usage and livestock watering. However, the widespread of this
Received in revised form 20 August 2012 technique requires accurate information and experiences in such system sizing and installation. The aim
Accepted 21 August 2012
of this work is to determine an optimum photovoltaic (PV) array configuration, adequate to supply a DC
Available online 11 October 2012
Helical pump with an optimum energy amount, under the outdoor conditions of Madinah site. Four dif-
ferent PV array configurations have been tested (6S 3P, 6S 4P, 8S 3P and 12S 2P). The tests have
Keywords:
been carried for a head of 80 m, under sunny daylight hours, in a real well at a farm in Madinah site. The
Photovoltaic water pumping system
Optimal PV configuration
best results have been obtained for two PV array configurations (6S 4P) and (8S 3P) which are suit-
Deep well able to provide the optimum energy. Powered by the selected PV array configurations, the helical pump
Daylight hours (SQF2.5-2) delivered a maximum daily average volume of water needed (22 m3/day).
Outdoor conditions Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0196-8904/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2012.08.013
M. Benghanem et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 65 (2013) 50–56 51
Nomenclature
Apv total PV array area (m2) Pm max peak power of the PV array (W)
Ch hydraulic constant (Ch = 9800 Kg/(m2 s2)) PVWPS1 PV water pumping system powered by PV1
E solar intensity (W/m2) PVWPS2 PV water pumping system powered by PV2
Ei incident energy on PV Array (kW h/day) PVWPS3 PV water pumping system powered by PV3
Ee electrical power of the pump (W h/day) PVWPS4 PV water pumping system powered by PV4
Eh hydraulic energy of the pump (Wh/day) Q flowrate of water (m3/h)
FF fill factor (%) Vm nominal voltage of the pump (V)
H head (dynamic level) (m) Voc open circuit voltage of the PV array (V)
Im maximum current of the pump (A) npv efficiency of the PV array (%)
Isc short circuit current of the PV Array (A) np efficiency of the pump (%)
MPPT maximum power point tracking nsys efficiency of the total system (%)
P power required by the pump (W)
and performances evaluation are necessaries. A comparative study 3.1. Characteristics of the PV array configurations
has been done to select an optimum PVWPS configuration, based
on experimental performances results of a helical pump, PV The PV array consists of an array of solar cell modules con-
powered by 24 PV modules (75 W) in different configurations. nected in series–parallel combinations to provide the desired
Through the tests of each PVWPS configuration, the daily flow-rate, DC voltage and current [23]. The proposed PV array designs
hydraulic energy and electrical energy are determinate. Also, the consist of four different configurations, based on mono-crystal-
pump efficiency and the total system efficiency curves are plotted. line silicon (75 W/20 V) PV modules, the optimal tilt angle is
The goal of this work is to select an optimal combined PVWPS con- equal to 23.5° which nearly equal to the latitude of the site
figuration, which can work at the optimum conditions in term of [24] and facing to south direction. The four different PV array
cost and demand of the load. configurations are: namely: PV1 (6S 3P), PV2 (12S 2P),
PV3 (8S 3P) and PV4 (6S 4P) which mean:
(6S 3P): 18 modules connected in three parallel rows with 6
2. Characteristics of the site
serial modules in each.
(12S 2P): 24 modules connected in two parallel rows with 12
The Madinah region is classified as semi-arid area and has a
serial modules in each.
great potential in solar radiation [16], with a daily annual average
(8S 3P): 24 modules connected in three parallel rows with
yield ranges from 4.5 kW h/m2/day until 8.5 kW h/m2/day, re-
eight serial modules in each.
ceived on tilt PV surface. The water static level of wells is between
(6S 4P): 24 modules connected in four parallel rows with six
40 m and 120 m in most of the wells. The Madinah city is situated
serial modules in each.
at 420 km north of Jeddah (second big city of Saudi Arabia). The
major types of agriculture are Palm trees and local vegetables.
Our aim is to rich the best performance of the pump by testing
The meteorological characteristics of the studied site of Madinah
the above configurations.
are given in Table 1.
Under the outdoor sunny days of the site, the PV arrays have
been put into tests, and then their maximum power points
3. Description of solar water pumping system (SQFlex system) (MPP), Fill Factors (FF) and their efficiencies (pump efficiency,
npv, and system efficiency, nsys) have been concluded. The MPP is
The SQFlex system is a reliable water supply system based on the product of the maximum possible voltage and the maximum
renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind energy. The possible current that the PV total cell area can produce in sunlight
SQFlex system incorporates an SQF submersible pump which is at a given level of irradiance [25]. The performances of each PV ar-
very flexible as to its energy supply and performance, the SQFlex ray, is characterized by the quality of its (I and V) sharpness curve,
system can be combined and adapted to any need according to which consists of the rate power, that the PV array configuration
the conditions on the installation site. can provide from its total power capacity rate production to feed
The system components are such load. Many models of PV energy rating have been developed
[26], and then it is calculated by the Fill Factor as follow:
SQF submersible pump. V m Im
Solar panels. FF ¼ ð1Þ
V OC ISC
We have setting up a PV water pumping system (PVWPS) in a The total efficiency of each PV array configuration is obtained by
reel well of 80 m of head. The PVWPS is composed by: photovoltaic the comparison between energy output of PV generator and solar
generator of 1.8 KW, submersible helical pump of type SQF2.5-2, incident ray on its surface, then it is calculated by the following
flow meter of type Electromagnetic and Agilent data logger system relation:
connected to computer for data acquisition and treatment (Fig. 1).
Table 1
Characteristics of Madinah site.
Latitude (°) Longitude (°) Altitude (m) Sunny days per year (%) Daylight hours Average ambient temperature Yearly irradiance (kW h/m2/day)
24°55 N 39.70°E 626 90 10–12 h 10 °C (January) 48 °C (August) 4.5–8.5
52 M. Benghanem et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 65 (2013) 50–56
30–300 VDC.
90–240 VAC, 50/60 Hz.
Table 2
Characteristics of the different PV array configurations.
10 1000
Current (A)
Current (A)
Power (W)
Power (W)
5 1000
5 500
0 0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Voltage (V) Voltage (V)
(A) (B)
I - V Characterisation and Power
I -V Characterisation and Power 20 2000
6S x 4P
2000
8S x 3P
15 1500
Current (A)
Power (W)
10
Currents (A)
Power (W)
10 1000
1000
5 500
0 0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Voltage (V) Voltage (V)
(C) (D)
Fig. 2. I–V characteristic of different configurations used: (A) 6S 3P, (B) 12S 2P, (C) 8S 3p and (D) 6S 4P.
6S X 4P 6S x 4P
12S X 2P 12S x 2P
3.0 1200
8S X 3P 8S x 3P
6S X 3P 6S x 3P
2.5 1000
2.0 800
Flow (m /h)
Power (W)
3
1.5 600
1.0
400
0.5
200
0.0
0
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time (h) 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00
Time (h)
Fig. 3. Daily variation of flow rates provided by the four different PV configurations
(head = 80 m). Fig. 4. Daily power variation curves for different PV configurations (head = 80 m).
54 M. Benghanem et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 65 (2013) 50–56
70
Through the obtained experimental results of the selected Pho-
tovoltaic Pumping System configurations, a comparative study is
Pump Efficiency Ep
50
pumping system configurations (PVWPS1, PVWPS2, PVWPS3 and
PVWPS4), for the same head of 80 m. 40
The curves shown in the Fig. 3 represent the daily variation of
flow rates provided by the four different PV pumping system con- 30
figurations, for the head of 80 m. The curves averred that the flow-
rate provided by the (PVWPS3) is more significant around noon, 20
when it reaches its maximum rate. The flow-rate provided by
(PVWPS1) is less significant than the flow-rate provided by 10
(PVWPS3), and it reaches its maximum rate, since the beginning
of operation in the early morning, and then it is still practically 0
6:40 7:55 9:10 10:25 11:40 12:55 14:10 15:25 16:40 17:55
constant during the whole day.
Time (Hours)
The curve shown in the Fig. 4 represents the variation of the
corresponding powers provided by each PV pumping system config- (B)
urations (PVWPS1, PVWPS2, PVWPS3 and PVWPS4). The powers
provided by the configuration PVWPS3 is the most appropriate 70
since the pump reached their maximum power of 900 W. The power (6S x 4P)
the day, since it achieves its maximum rate in the early morning.
Due to its parallelism configuration (the resulting current is the 50
sum of the respective module currents), the (PV3) provides enough
40
current intensity to meet rapidly the operating point of the pump,
which allows it to start and reach its maximum power rate quickly,
30
in the early morning (rapid increase), and then it stills constant until
the late daylight hours, when it dropped rapidly (rapid decrease).
20
The power produced by the (PV1) is insufficient to provide the max-
imum power rate to the pump. The power produced by the (PV4) is
10
over the maximum power supported by the pump.
The next step is to make a comparative study of the efficiencies
0
provided by the three PV pumping system configurations 6:40 7:55 9:10 10:25 11:40 12:55 14:10 15:25 16:40 17:55
Table 3
Performance of the PVWPS for a head = 80 m.
PV configurations Maximum flow, Maximum Power Maximum efficiency, Average efficiency, Maximum efficiency, Average efficiency,
Q (m3/day) of the pump, Ee (W) ep (%) ep (%) esys (%) esys (%)
PV1 (6S 3P) 15.0 700 76.00 43.25 8.90 4.09
PV2 (12S 2p) 20.9 750 72.21 42.47 7.29 3.56
PV3 (8S 3P) 21.8 900 67.00 45.06 7.40 4.12
PV4 (6S 4P) 22.0 1000 58.40 37.34 9.58 4.77
7
Total system Efficiency Esys
0
6:40 7:55 9:10 10:25 11:40 12:55 14:10 15:25 16:40 17:55
Time (Hours) Fig. 7. Evolution of solar radiation during a sunny day (site: Madinah, 07 June
2012).
(B) 8
(8S x 3P)
7 irradiance available to the PV array, and the current and voltage
Total system Efficiency Esys
6. Conclusion
8
Through the comparative performances study of the four PV
water pumping system configurations (PVWPS1, PVWPS2,
6 PVWPS3 and PVWPS4), it has been averred that the configuration
PVWPS3 is suitable to supply the maximum daily quantity of water
needed which is 22 m3/day.
4
The total system efficiency comparison shows that the
(PVWPS3) is more appropriate. However, for optimal energy
2 exploitation, an efficient use of the PV pumping system design is
required.
In view of this goal, a combined PV array configuration between
0
6:40 7:55 9:10 10:25 11:40 12:55 14:10 15:25 16:40 17:55 the PV2 and PV3 is proposed to feed the pump. This design consists
Time (Hours) to use both the two PV pumping system configurations simulta-
neously, whenever, the need is required. In early morning, the
Fig. 6. Total efficiency curves of three PV configurations (A) 12S 2P, (B) 8S 3p (PVWPS4) is advised to be used for providing enough current
and (C) 6S 4P.
intensity to start the pump and during optimum sunlight; the
(PVWPS3) is an appropriate choice to run the pump.
The direct current DC power received by the pump from a se- To match the Maximum power points of the PV array with the
lected PV array is mainly controlled by two parameters: The solar IV load of the DC pump, an Electronic Array Reconfiguration
56 M. Benghanem et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 65 (2013) 50–56
Table 4
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