High Power Well Pumping for Irigation

Re: High Power Well Pumping for Irigation

Here is one thread where we discussed 40-160 HP (30-120 kW) worth of pumping in the US using solar...

The starting point for solar is the same one for every project: conservation (of resources and money)--Estimate your power needs to do the pumping. And compare the costs of "average" vs "the most energy efficient pumping system" you can find. Overlay the difference in pumping infrastructure costs and Solar costs (off grid, on grid, etc.) and even the costs of running a high voltage utility line+kWH billing to your pumping facility.

Once you have sketched out the positives and negatives of the hand full of options (and their estimated costs)--Such a system should be large enough to attract multiple bidders to the project. With your knowledge from your paper review--you should quickly be able to see who is a worthwhile vendor and who is blowing smoke.

-Bill

Re: High Power Well Pumping for Irigation

For induction motors, it is pretty "easy" to install a capacitor bank to bring the Power Factor back to ~0.95 (from ~0.67) for induction motors. Power companies do that all the time. In California, you can see capacitor banks on utility poles that are switched on during pumping/air conditioning season in the central valley. For (large?) commercial installations, our power company charges for poor power factor (more or less, the customer pays for kVA, not kWH).

And why a 20kW array for a 30kW pump? Normally, I would have expected something along the lines of:

30kW * 1/0.77 panel+controller deratings = 39 kW solar array (if you want to power the pump at 100% of rated power)

For research, I would look for companies that build industrial VFD units (Variable Frequency Drives) for 3 phase motors and see if they have any suggestions/products.

A few years ago, I stumbled over a larger (few kW?) VFD that was designed to connect directly with a solar array. I could not find it later--possibly the company was out of business or dropped the product. The VFD would vary the frequency (and pump RPM) based on the amount of available solar energy at any time (basically a MPPT controller with 3 phase AC output).

You can use Aibaba for a list of Mfg (most are from China).

Here is a guide (PDF) on Variable Speed Pumping from the US Dept of Energy... At the end they include some information from US and European Hydraulic/Pumping industrial organizations (they have a ~150 page guide available for ~95 Euro/$?).

About Europump
Europump, established in 1960, acts as spokesperson
for 15 national pump manufacturing associations in
Europe and represents more than 400 manufacturers.
Europump serves and promotes the European
pump industry. For information on Europump, visit
www.europump.org.

About the Hydraulic Institute
The Hydraulic Institute (HI), established in 1917, is
the largest association of pump producers and leading
suppliers in North America. HI serves member
companies and pump users by providing product
standards and forums for the exchange of industry
information. HI has been developing pump standards
for over 80 years. For information on membership,
organization structure, member and user
services, and energy and life cycle cost issues, visit
www.pumps.org.

And here is a US based Sustainable Farming Organization--Perhaps they have some information on solar irrigation (a quick search of their site did not show much--probably just a Grundfos based pump--which seem to be in the ~1kW range):

https://attra.ncat.org/

Let us know what you find--I am sure others here will be interested.

-Bill