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Novel Design and Sizing Approach for Optimal Installation of Solar Water Pumping Setups

  • SOLAR INSTALLATIONS AND THEIR APPLICATION
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Abstract

At present, most of the water pumps used for different water extraction and reticulation applications are powered by fossil fuels. However, the disadvantages of such energy sources are well known and include the numerous negative health, environmental and economic issues that they introduce. Solar water pumping is increasingly becoming a preferred alternative towards mitigation of all the issues raised by diesel or petrol pumps. However, a lack of optimal design approaches for the implementation of solar water pumping systems has been shown to result in both inflated system costs and poor fulfillment of desired water demands. This paper introduces a design and sizing methodology developed to ensure optimization of solar water pumping setups through models that ensure maximum energy generation utilizing site-specific data on location and water demand. The models were further used to develop novel approaches of determination of total-head and flow-rate thus ensuring a complete optimization of the solar water pumping system. Validation of the models was then implemented experimentally using actual setups in Kenya. It is shown that the models developed allows for a reduction of between 2.95 and 6.09% on the system’s total pumping head. A reduction of the solar PV derating-factor by up to 31% was also demonstrated. The changes in these two parameters were shown to lower the system installation CapEx and introduce cost-savings of up to 31%. Ultimately, the methodology also ensured the desired water demand is fulfilled with a surplus of up to 7.7% of the specified daily water requirement.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors of this work would like to acknowledge the support of the staff of the Energy Department of Kenyatta University, Kenya. Their assistance was critical in making this work possible. Additionally, the authors would want to thank Nicholas Odera of Davis & Shirtliff Limited for the continued support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kenyatta University, Kahawa, Kenya

    Macben Makenzi & Joseph Muguthu

  2. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Juja, Kenya

    Macben Makenzi & Evan Murimi

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  1. Macben Makenzi
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  2. Joseph Muguthu
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  3. Evan Murimi
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Correspondence to Macben Makenzi.

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Macben Makenzi, Muguthu, J. & Murimi, E. Novel Design and Sizing Approach for Optimal Installation of Solar Water Pumping Setups. Appl. Sol. Energy 57, 391–402 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0003701X21050091

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0003701X21050091

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