Solar Water Pumps

What are solar water pumps?

Solar Water pumps is a technology which is designed to supply the water especially in remote areas with the use of solar energy. In those places where power is not enough to operate electric water pumps, solar water pumps is an idle choice. They give the economic benefits as they are cheaper than other water pumps as well as they are beneficial for the environment as they use sunlight to generate electricity which is a renewable source of energy.

How Solar Water Pump works

As from the above picture, it is quite clear that the solar water pump is an electrical pump in which the power is generated using solar PV (photovoltaic) system. It consists of a solar panel array that converts the solar energy to electrical energy which in turn powers a motor pump. This motor is used to draw the water from the groundwater storages such as well, pond, canal, etc. and then stores that water in the tank. This water can be used by the villagers to drink, cultivate farm and whatever they want to do. This is how the solar water pumps work. One important thing is that the solar water pumps must be installed under the presence of sunlight i.e. not in shadowy areas.

What types of solar water pumps are available in the market?

There are various types of solar water pumps classified in different ways but, mainly four types of solar water pumps are quite famous. These are:

1. Submersible solar Pumps: As from the name submersible, we can say that these pumps are installed below the ground level. This means the suction head of these types of pumps is always located nearly 10 m deep under the ground. To install these pumps, the first step is to dig the bore well and then place them in it. These are costly and hard to maintain in contrast with others. These types of pumps are suitable where the water is available at lower depths.
2. Surface Solar Pumps: They are quite opposite from the submersible pumps as they are located outside of water and above the ground. The limit to these types of pumps is that they can be installed only on surfaces where the water level is not more than a depth of 10 meters. But as they are on the surface so they can be easily maintained and installed.

Solar Pumps by Current type:

1. DC solar Pump: They can be of both above types but these types of pumps operate on direct current. In this, the pump runs by a motor which in turn uses DC to work, that’s why there is no need of battery or inverter.
2. AC Solar Pump: It is same as above but the key difference is that it works on alternating current. This means that the motor of these pumps uses AC to run the pump. It is quite complex than DC pump because of these first convert DC which is generated by solar panels to AC with the help of the inverter. The limitation of AC pumps is that some power gets lost due to the conversion of DC to AC

What are the basic components of Solar Water Pumps?

From the above figure, you can nearly estimate the basic components but if you want to know them in detail then just slide down and read:

• Solar Panel: It is the utmost component of the pump as it is used to store the solar energy and also used to convert that solar energy into electrical energy. It is the costliest component, nearly makeup 80% cost of the pump.
• Controller: It is used to operate the two function of a pump so that the pump can work properly. One function is it is used to equalize the pump's output power with input power which is available from the solar panels. Coupling with this, another function of the controller is that it provides the low voltage protection which means it switches off the pump when power is too low or too high for operating the pump.
• Electric motor: The basic functionality of the electric motor is to manage the AC or DC current. The DC motors can operate of medium power range which is up to 4kw while AC motors are used to manage the high-power range which is nearly 0.15KW to 55KW.
• Pump: The pump is used to supply the water for various purposes such as drinking, irrigation and many more.

Solar water pumps cost with their specifications :

The following table is shown with the pump name, power, head range with the price. It is to note that these values are approx.

Benefits of Solar water pumps :

There are many advantages over other water pumps which are listed below:

• Reliable: These water pumps are reliable in all areas whether it is a regional area or remote area. It is a definitely good choice to install in those areas where power is not enough. In today's era, the pumps can also be managed through apps which is beneficial in remote areas. .
• Low operating cost: The main advantage of using these pumps is that its energy comes from biggest renewable source sunlight. Due to this, the operating costs are very low and environmental-friendly. .
• Easy to transport: Due to climatic conditions or personal issues, if one wants to shift the pump from one location to other, then don’t worry, these pumps solve this problem also. They can be easily shifted and relocated. .
• No electricity required: As solar energy is converted to electric energy with the help of a motor, so there is no need for an external supply of electricity. This also reduces the cost of solar pumps. .
• Long operating life: In contrast with other pumps, these pumps have the long operating life. They can work continuously for 20 years if the proper maintenance and service are provided to them.
• Needs low Maintenace: As they have PV panels to operate which means they need low maintenance as compared to generators. If the panels start to lose efficiency, then they can be easily replaced and enables you to start your pump to work again.

After reading the above article, I hope you are now able to take the correct decision to install the water pump. If you want more information about this, then let us know, we will try to help you.