MEE 1038

CAT 2 solution for Numerical

Solution for Q.1
Solution for Q.1
 Question 3
Water needs to be pumped from an irrigation well
situated at standard meridian of India. The following
are the conditions prevailing at the location.
• The maximum solar radiation and ambient
temperature of the location are 900W/m2 and 450C.
• Depth of water in the well is 10 meters
• Volume of water required per day is 2.5 m3.
• The panel characteristics are as shown in Table .1
• The pump characteristics are shown in Fig.1.
 Table.1 Solar PV panel characteristics

ELECTRICAL CHARACTERICTICS
Performance at Standard Test Cond (STC:1000 W/m2 ; 250C; AM 1.5G Spectrum)
Nominal Power (+5W/-0W) [W] 255 260 265
Average Power PMPP [W] 257.5 262.5 267.5
Short Circuit Current Isc [A] 8.90 9.09 9.28
Open Circuit Voltage Voc [V] 37.83 38.18 38.52
Current at PMPP IMPP [A] 8.37 8.53 8.69
Voltage at PMPP VMPP [V] 30.77 30.78 30.79
Efficiency (Nominal Power) η [%] ≥15.3 ≥15.6 ≥15.9
Performance at Standard Test Conditions (NOCT:800 W/m2 ; 45±30C; AM 1.5G Spectrum)

Nominal Power (+5W/-0W) [W] 255 260 265

Average Power PMPP [W] 189.7 193.4 197.1
Short Circuit Current Isc [A] 7.18 7.33 7.48
Open Circuit Voltage Voc [V] 35.22 35.54 35.86
Current at PMPP IMPP [A] 6.56 6.68 6.80
Voltage at PMPP VMPP [V] 28.92 28.94 28.97
Fig.1 Pump characteristics [Assume 1 gallon = 3.785 liters]
Table 2. Resistance and current carrying capacity of wire

Size
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4
dc  /km 7.77 4.89 3.07 1.93 1.21 0.764 0.491 0.308

I max, A 25.4856 16.0392 10.0696 6.3304 3.9688 2.50592 1.61048 1.01024

Size 3 2 1 0 0.00 0.000 0.0000 250 kcm

dc /km 0.245 0.194 0.154 0.122 0.0967 0.0766 0.0608 0.0515

I max, A 0.8036 0.63632 0.50512 0.40016 0.317176 0.251248 0.199424 0.16892

Calculate the pump power required. Design a solar PV array for

power generation to operate the specified capacity of the pump.
Calculate the wire and fuse size required to keep the voltage
drop between panel and pump under 5% assuming the distance
between them to be about 5 meters using the data available in
Table 2. Neglect surge protection sizing.
 Solution
• Given: Water pumping application
• Maximum solar radiation at the site is 900W/m2
• Ambient temperature 450C (NOCT conditions)
• Depth of water in the well is 10 meters
• Volume of water required per day is 2.5 m3 i.e.,
2500 liters
Usually problem can be solved in 2 ways
If location is given without prescribing the radiation
value, the average insolation of the location need to
be calculated based on theoretical formulas
mentioned in data sheet. However, in the statement
radiation value is given.
 Solution
• Find the value of dynamic head to calculate pump power
required
• Depth of water is 10 meters and assume 1 to 1.5 meter as
elevation sine its for irrigation purpose so total dynamic
(hydraulic) head will be 11.5 meters (11.5*3.28=37.8 feet)
• The hourly hydraulic energy demand Ehydr(Wh),
corresponding to lifting water to a height h (m) with a hourly
volume Q (m3/h) is

g is the acceleration of gravity (9.81m·s−2), ρ is the density of water (1000

kg·m−3), and ηf is a factor accounting for friction losses in the piping.

Ehydr =1000*9.81*2500*11.5
 Solution
• This hydraulic energy translates into an electrical energy
requirement Ee
Rp is the moto-pump system efficiency,
can be assumed between 80-90% if not
provided. Otherwise from graph

• If pump is AC, Rinv is the inverter efficiency, can

be assumed between 90-95%
HMT= Total height/head
• Electrical Energy provided by the PV array

S is the area of the array. Miscellaneous PV array losses λp and other power
conditioning losses λc. Assume λp and λc as 0.4 and 0.25 respectively. Ht is
solar radiation on tilted PV panel (Given). From Ee find the value of ‘S’
The array is characterised by its average efficiency, ηp, which is a function of
average module temperature Tc
ηr is the PV module efficiency at reference temperature
Tr (= 250C), and βp is the temperature coefficient for
module efficiency.
Solution
 Solution
• Assuming Q=0.5 m3/hr i.e., 0.0083 m3/min or 2.19
gpm; from graph @30% pump efficiency supply
voltage required for pump is 15 V. [5 hrs average
sunshine hours at the location.]-can change.
• Assume No load current and load current as 4A
and 16 A respectively for pump, power
consumption for pump is 16*15=240 Watt
• Running hours per day is 5 hours.
• Total electrical energy required per day is
240*5=1200 Watt-hour/day
• Ampere-hour required per day = 16*5=90 Ah
• Estimated Ampere-hours required from PV
module = 90*(loss factor=3) [Assume]=270 A-h
 Solution
• Total Ampere requirement from PV module
= A-h requirement from module / Total
no. of sunshine hours
= 270/5 = 54 A
Required PV module Power capacity, P = VI
P=15V*54A = 810 Watt [Nominal power=255 W-2 in
series]
Required numbers of PV modules =

= 810/189 = 4.28 = 5 modules (in parallel)

Then Wire sizing??
 Solution-2
• If Solar radiation value is not provided then….

• For average days of a month in the year

calculate declination
• Calculate hour angle and Smax
 Solution-2
• Calculate H0

• Calculate Hg
Use a, b values for the
nearest location in the
data sheet if not provided.
 Solution-2
• Calculate Radiation falling on titled surface

Calculate using tilt angle ‘β’ value for the location to be (φ+50) if
not provided.

Repeat steps from slide ‘8’