DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE INVESTIGATION OF INTELLIGENT SOLAR
WATER PUMPING SYSTEM RETROFITTING CONVENTIONAL ONES:
(A CASE STUDY IN MUST LRC BUILDING)
R.C. Pallugna, M.R. S. Camangyan
University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines
Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
reycamz21@gmail.com
Abstract This work is concerned with the designing and
performance investigation of intelligent solar water pumping
system retrofitting conventional ones: (A case study in MUST
LRC Building). The researcher will design the system, select and
rate the components, and then investigate the performance of it.
The components of the system such as solar array, charge
controller, inverter, and storage tank is owned by the Mindanao
University of Science and Technology (MUST). The study is also
located in the said university.
Keywords Microcontroller, Solar Water Pumping System,
Solar Inverter, Solar Charge Controller, Motor Pump
I. INTRODUCTION
The growing demand for electrical energy throughout the
world has motivated the use of new renewable sources of
energy. The concern for environment, due to excessive use of
fossil fuels, has led to a remarkable global effort to harness
alternative energy resources. The renewable energy resources,
such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, etc. are environment
friendly and perennial in nature. Among the unconventional
renewable energy sources that have been studied, solar
photovoltaic (PV) energy is now becoming a promising
economical renewable/alternate energy source. The energy
contained in sunlight, called solar energy is converted into
electricity directly using devices based on semiconductor
materials, we call it photovoltaic (PV). [1]
Water resources are essential for satisfying human needs,
protecting health, and ensuring food production, energy and
the restoration of ecosystems, as well as for social and
economic development and for sustainable development.
Water pumping has a long history; so many methods have
been developed to pump water with a minimum of effort. [2]
Nowadays, solar pumping system is one of the most
common pumping systems used in high-rise buildings. The
volume of water pumped by a solar-powered system in a
given interval depends on the total amount of solar energy
available in that time period. Specifically, the flow rate of the
water pumped is determined by both the intensity of the solar
energy available and the size of the PV array used to convert
that solar energy into electricity. When properly designed,
these PV systems can also result in significant long-term
systems.[3]
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Solar Energy
Electromagnetic energy (solar radiation) transmitted by the
sun (approximately one billionth of which reaches the earth) is
the basis of all terrestrial life. It amounts to about 420 trillion
kilowatt-hours, and is several thousand times greater than all
the energy used by all people. Solar energy is harnessed by
capturing the suns heat (through solar heaters) or light
(through photovoltaic cells). It is estimated that one square
kilometer (about 0.4 square miles) of land area receives sime
4000 kilowatts (4 megawatts) of solar energy every day,
enough for the requirements of a medium-sized town.
Solar-powered electrical generation relies on heat engines
and photovoltaics. Solar energys uses are limited only by
human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes
space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable
water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, solar hot
water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat for
industrial purposes.
Solar Irradiance
The Sun is the fundamental driving force for energy in the
Earth's climate system. It is of crucial importance to
understand fully the conditions of its arrival at the top of the
atmosphere and its transformation through the earth. The
amount of solar power available per unit area is known as
irradiance. Irradiance is a radiometric term for the power of
electromagnetic radiation at a surface, per unit area. It is used
when the electromagnetic radiation is incident on the surface.
Irradiance fluctuates according to the weather and the suns
location in the sky. This location constantly changes through
the day due to changes in both the suns altitude (or elevation)
angle and its azimuth (or compass) angle. [2]
Figure 1: Solar Irradiance
Solar Constant Peak Sun Hours

The solar constant is the amount of incoming solar The number of peak sun hours per day at a given location is
electromagnetic radiation per unit area, measured on the outer the equivalent number of hours at peak sun conditions (i.e., at
surface of Earth's atmosphere on a plane perpendicular to the 1 kW/m2) that produces the same total insolation as actual sun
rays. The solar constant includes all types of solar radiation, conditions. Figure below shows how Peak Sun Hours is
not just the visible light. It is estimated to be roughly 1,366 determined by constructing a graph having the same area as
watts per square meter (W/m) according to satellite that for the actual irradiance versus time. [2]
measurements, though this fluctuates by about 6.9 % during a
year (from 1,412 W/m in early January to 1,321 W/m in
early July) due to Earth's varying distance from the Sun. For
the entire planet (Earth has a cross section of 127,400,000
km), the power is (1366 W/m2 x 1.2741014 m2)
1.7401017 W, plus or minus 3.5 %. The solar constant does
not remain constant over long periods of time. The average
value cited, 1,366 W/m, is equivalent to 1.96 calories per
minute per square centimeter, or 1.96 langleys (Ly) per
minute. [2]

Figure 4: Peak Sun Hours

Battery-Coupled Water Pumping System

Battery-coupled water pumping systems consist of

Figure 2: Solar Constant photovoltaic (PV) panels, charge control regulator, batteries,
pump controller, pressure switch, tank, and DC water pump.
Solar Spectrum The electric current produced by PV panels during daylight
hours charges the batteries, and the batteries in turn supply
The sun radiates power over a continuous band or power to the pump anytime water is needed. The use of
spectrum of electromagnetic wavelengths. The power levels of batteries spreads the pumping over a longer period of time by
the various wavelengths in the solar spectrum are not the same. providing a steady operating voltage to the DC motor of the
The suns total energy is composed of 7% ultraviolet radiation, pump. Thus, during the night and low light periods, the
47% visible radiation and 46% infrared (heat) radiation. system can still deliver a constant source of water for
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation causes many materials to degrade livestock. [2]
and is significantly filtered out by the layer of Ozone in the
upper atmosphere. Photovoltaic cells primarily use visible
radiation. The distribution of colours within light is important,
because, a photovoltaic cell will produce different amounts of
current depending on the various colours reflecting on it. [2]

Figure 4: Battery-Coupled Water Pumping System

Figure 3: Solar Spectrum

Direct-Coupled Water Pumping System
In direct-coupled pumping systems, electricity from
the PV modules is sent directly to the pump, which in turn
pumps water through a pipe to where it is needed (Figure.2).
This system is designed to pump water only during the day.
The amount of water pumped is totally dependent on the
amount of sunlight hitting the PV panels and the type of pump.
Because the intensity of the sun and the angle at which it
strikes the PV panel changes throughout the day, the amount
of water pumped by this system also changes throughout the
day. For instance, during optimum sunlight periods (late
morning to late afternoon on bright sunny days) the pump
operates at or near 100 percent efficiency with maximum
water flow. However, during early morning and late afternoon,
pump efficiency may drop by as much as 25 percent or more
under these low-light conditions. [2]
Microcontroller
A Microcontroller is an integrated circuit that
contains many of the same items that a desktop computer has,
such as CPU, memory, etc., but does not include any human
interface devices like a monitor, keyboard, or mouse.
Microcontrollers are designed for machine control
applications, rather than human interaction. Hundreds (if not
thousands) of different variations of microcontrollers are
available. Some are programmed once and produced for
specific applications, such as controlling your microwave
oven. Others are re-programmable, which means they can
be used over and over for different applications.
Microcontrollers are incredibly versatile the same device
may control a model rocket, a toaster, or even your cars
antilock braking system. [20]
Arduino Microcontroller
The Arduino microcontroller is an easy to use yet powerful
single board computer that has gained considerable traction in
the hobby and professional market. The Arduino is open-
source, which means hardware is reasonably priced and
development software is free. This guide is for students in ME
2011, or students anywhere who are confronting the Arduino
for the first time. For advanced Arduino users, prowl the web;
there are lots of resources. With the Arduino board, you can
write programs and create interface circuits to read switches
and other sensors, and to control motors and lights with very
little effort. [21]
Figure 5: Arduino Microcontroller
ZMPT101B Voltage Sensor Module
The ZMPT101B voltage sensor has a
voltage transformer in it to step down high voltages
so that it can be measured by an Arduino. A voltage
transformer theory or potential transformer theory
is just like a theory of general purpose step down
transformer. Primary of this transformer is
connected across the phase and ground. Just like the
transformer used for stepping down purpose,
potential transformer i.e. PT has lower turns
winding at its secondary. The output pin of this
sensor will be connected to the analog pin of the
arduino.[23]
Figure 6: ZMPT101B Voltage Sensor Module
ACS712 Current Sensor Module
The Allergo ACS712 current sensor is based on the
principle of Hall-effect, which was discovered by Dr. Edwin
Hall in 1879. According to this principle, when a current
carrying conductor is placed into a magnetic filed, a voltage is
generated across its edges perpendicular to the directions of
both the current and the magnetic field. A thin sheet of
semiconductor material (called Hall element) is carrying a
current (I) and is placed into a magnetic field (B) which is
perpendicular to the direction of current flow. Due to the
presence of Lorentz force, the distribution of current is no
more uniform across the Hall element and therefore a
potential difference is created across its edges perpendicular to
the directions of both the current and the field. This voltage is
known Hall voltage and its typical value is in the order of few
microvolts. The Hall voltage is directly proportional to the
magnitudes of I and B. So if one of them (I and B) is known,
then the observed Hall voltage can be used to estimate the
other.[22]
Figure 7: ACS712 Cuurent Sensor Module
 III. METHODOLOGY
The figure below shows the flow chart of the
research methodology. The study is divided into three major
processes namely design, implementation, and performance
evaluation. The first step is to gather data that are important in
the study. Next is the design of the system. The system design
will be broken into parts in the next section. It is followed by
the selection of components to be used in the system and also
the sizing of each components. After that, the researcher will
implement the design and then conduct a performance
investigation. The last step will be the conclusion wherein the
researcher will conclude if the desired parameters were
achieved.
Figure 8: Methodology Flow Chart
Gathering data is the first step in doing a research.
The researcher gathers significant data and information about
the study. For this research, the data that will be gathered is
the daily water requirement. These includes water for human
hygiene, sanitation, food preparation, drinking, etc. In this
study, the researcher will only consider the water requirement
for sanitation since it will be used for an institutional building
like the LRC building in USTP. The water requirement will be
very significant in determining the flow rate of the system
which will then be the basis for selecting the size and type of
the pump.
System Design
The system design is the most important part of the
study since the following steps cannot be done without it. The
first step in designing the system would be determining the
solar insolation availability in Cagayan de Oro City which the
LRC Building is located. Next will be obtaining the pumping
flow requirements followed by the pumping head
requirements. These two are the basis in determining the
suitable pump to be used in the system. After that, the
researcher will proceed to the PV array design. The last part of
the system design will be the selection of the components to
be used in the system such as the charge controller, solar
inverter, variable frequency drive, storage tank, and size of
wires. The step by step process on how the researcher carried
out the study is depicted in the flow chart shown below.
Figure 9: System Design Flow Chart
Solar Insolation Availability
Calculation of solar insolation availability in a
specific region is an important parameter in the system design.
Solar insolation is related to radiant energy per unit area and is
usually expressed in units of kWh/m2 /day. The number of
peak sun hours per day at a given location is the equivalent
number of hours at peak sun conditions (i.e., at 1 kW/m2) that
produces the same total insolation as actual sun conditions. To
determine the daily solar insolation, the researcher will gather
data from many sources in the internet about solar insolation.
After that, the researcher will compare the gathered data and
decide which is the most accurate of all satellite data.
Flow Rate
The flow rate is the amount of water pumped in a
certain time period. The flow rates able to be met by a pump
are usually quoted in L/min or m/day. The hourly flow rate
should take into consideration that there is a limited number of
sun hours per day to pump the water. The estimated flow rate
also needs to take into consideration that the levels of solar
radiation vary from hour to hour. According to [26], to
calculate the flow rate per hour, the equation would be,
Where Q is the flow rate, Rw is the water requirement and
PSH is peak sun hours. The researcher will choose how much
solar radiation intensity to be used in the system. In general, a
solar PV pump will be selected on a single flow-rate value,
with different flow rates calculated for each month.
Flow Velocity
Flow velocity is a vector quantity used to describe
the motion of a fluid. It is calculated by dividing the flow rate
by the cross sectional area of the pipe used [2]. To be able to
get the fluid flow velocity, the researcher will first determine
the flow rate of the fluid and the cross sectional area of the
pipe to be used in the system.
Where Q is the fluid flow rate, and A is the cross-
sectional area of the pipe.
Pumping Head Requirements
In measuring the total system head, there are things
to be measured first, it is the static head and the dynamic head.
The static head is the distance between the free discharge
point on the top tank and the water surface at the bottom tank
while the dynamic head is the sum of the losses in the system
due to pipe friction and also fittings used.
Suction Head
Suction head is the vertical distance from water
surface to pump center. Suction head is important in
determining the total head of the system together with the
discharge head. If the water tank is above the motor pump, it
will have a negative suction head while if the storage tank is
below the motor pump, it will have a positive suction head. To
determine the suction head, the researcher will look if it has a
positive or negative suction head. After that, the researcher
will measure the distance between the water surface of the
storage tank and the pump center with the use of a steel tape.
Discharge Head
The discharge head is equal to the vertical distance
from pump center to free discharge point. To measure these,
the researcher will need to use a rope since the height of the
building is too high for it to be measured by a steel tape. The
researcher start the measurement on the top storage tank. The
rope will be thrown down to the pump center at the ground.
After it has been measured by a rope, the researcher will
measure the rope if how long it would be then that would be
the discharge head of the system.
Static Head
The static head of a pump is the maximum height
(pressure) it can deliver [2]. In other words, it is the distance
between the free discharge point of the pipeline at the top of
the building and the water surface of storage tank at the
ground. It is calculated by the equation,
Pipe Friction Losses
Pipe friction losses represent the resistance of a pipe
to water flowing through it. Each type of pipe has its
smoothness and roughness differences. It has an impact on the
performance of the hydraulic system since it need a force to
push the water through a pipeline. When the pipe material is
rough, there is an extra force needed to move the fluid flowing
through it compared to a pipe which has a smooth surface in
the inside. According to Dr. Bansal [27], the formula for
determining the pipe friction loss using the Darcy-Weisbach
equation would be,
Where hL is the pipe friction loss, f is the friction
factor for laminar flow, L is the total length of the pipe in
meters (not just the vertical height, but the length of pipe), D
is the internal diameter of the pipe in meters, Vavg2 is the
average velocity of the water within the pipe in m/s, and g is
the force of gravity, which is equal to 9.81 m/s2.
For determining the pipe friction loss, the friction
factor will be calculated first using the formula shown below.
After that, the friction loss can now be determined.
Where is the dynamic viscosity of water
(temperature-dependent, is the density of water
(temperature-dependent), D is the wetted diameter of the pipe
(that is, the diameter of those sections of the internal pipe that
touch water, Vavg is the average velocity of the water.

Table 1: Dynamic Viscosity Table
Friction Head Loss
The friction head loss represents the losses that occur
due to bends in any of the pipe or valves in the system as well
as those that occur as a result of the size of the valves or pipes.
The following equation is used to calculate the friction head
loss according to Dr. Bansal [27],
Where hf is the friction head loss, K is the resistance
coefficient (this depends on the type of valve or the degree of
bend in a system), V is the velocity of water, and g is the force
of gravity, which is equal to 9.81m/s2. If there are many
valves and bends in the system, the total friction head loss
would be the sum of all the individual valves loss and fittings.
Total Dynamic Head
The total dynamic head of the system is the sum of
all the friction losses including the pipe friction loss and the
loss due to fittings. This will be significant in determining the
total system head. The formula is given by [2],
Total System Head
The total head of a water system must be considered
when determining the size of pumping equipment to be
installed. It determines the various head losses that the pump
must overcome. Once the total system head and the flow rate
is determined, the researcher can proceed to selecting the
suitable pump for the application. The formula for the total
system head according to [2] is;
Hydraulic Power
The hydraulic power which is also known as
absorbed power, represents the energy imparted on the fluid
being pumped to increase its velocity and pressure. According
to D.Y. Goswami [28], the formula for hydraulic power is
given by,
Where is the density of water in kg/m3, g is the
acceleration due to gravity in m/s2, H is the head of the system,
Q is the flow rate in m3/s, and is the efficiency of the motor.
Daily Energy Requirement
The daily energy requirement to pump water on the
top of the building needs to be determined. Once the hydraulic
parameters were determined such as daily water requirement,
system head, and also the efficiency of the pump, the daily
energy requirement can already be calculated. The formula for
daily energy according to Goswami [28] is given by,
Where Ed is the daily energy requirement in Wh/day,
Rw is the daily water requirement in L/day, g is the
acceleration due to gravity in m/s2, Hsystem is the total head of
the system and is the motor pump efficiency.
Panels required
The total number of panels required in the design is
the quotient between the total energy demand per day and the
energy output per panel per day. Formulas are used from [2],
(12)
Panels in Series
(13)
Panels in Parallel
(14)
Components Selection
In this stage, the researcher will decide what
components to include in the system. These includes the wires,
circuit breakers, storage tank, VFD, charge controller, inverter,
PV panel, etc.

Performance Evaluation
In evaluating the performance of the system, the
researcher will use a microcontroller to log the data gathered.
With the help of the current sensor and voltage sensor, the
power output, voltage, and current can be determined. To do
this, the researcher will connect the sensors to the motor pump
and then the researcher will calibrate the sensors using a
laptop and a microcontroller which is the Arduino. After the
calibration of the sensors, the researcher can now proceed to
logging the data.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Daily Water Requirement

Based on the data gathered from the World Health Figure 10: Existing Pumping System in LRC Building
Organization (WHO) [24], in an institutional building like the
LRC building in MUST, the water requirement per person per
day is 20 liters. The major use of water in an institutional
building is for sanitation. The researcher gathered data on how
many students are going to the LRC building per day by
asking the staff of the E-library, Main library, graduate library,
and counting the number of classes held at the same building.
Figure shown below is the table of students going to the LRC
building;

Table 2: Table showing the number of persons using the

LRC building
The data above will be used to calculate for the daily water
requirement in the entire building.

Rw = 20 liters per person / day * 1788 persons Figure 11: Retrofitted Layout of the Solar Pumping System
Rw = 35,760 liters/day
 Solar Insolation Availability
Solar insolation is determined by summing solar
irradiance over time, and is usually expressed in units of
kWh/m2 /day. The table below shows the solar insolation of
Cagayan de Oro City from the RETScreen Expert application
downloaded from the NASA website. Given the Latitute and
Longitude of the location, the data shows that the annual Suction Head
average insolation is 5.37 kWh/m2/day.[25]

Figure 12: Discharge Head

Discharge Head

Table 3. Monthly Average Solar Insolation on a Horizontal

Surface (kWh/m2/day)

Flow Rate

The flow rate of the system will be based on the daily

water requirement and according to the time that the pump
motor will be operated at a given peak sun hours. The flow
rate is given by;

Figure 13: Discharge Head

Pipe Inside Diameter
Total System Head
The diameter of the pipe to be used in the system
would be 1 inch since the motor pump inlet to be selected After all the calculations were made, it is determined
usually has a diameter of 1 inch. The researcher did this so that the total system head is 27.422 meters.
that the pipeline and the pump will be directly connected.

Flow Velocity Hydraulic Power

Since the flow rate is already known and the pipe
diameter is also known, then we can simply calculate for the
flow velocity (V) of the system. 1 inch is equivalent to
0.0254m and 128.73 liters/min. The flow velocity is,
The researcher already got the power requirement of
the motor which is 650W but the efficiency of the motor
pump is not yet determined. The researcher will use the power
output of the motor to get the efficiency. The efficiency is
36.98%
 Daily Energy Requirement Performance Evaluation

The efficiency is already been determined so the

daily enery requirement can now also be calculated. The
formula is,

PV Array Layout Figure 14: Inrush Current of the Single Phase Motor
Usually, a number of PV modules are combined as
an array to meet different energy demands. The researcher
selected the PV module, Sunpower SPR-200-BLK, Pmax of
200W, Vmp of 40V, Imp of 5A, Isc of 5.4A, Voc of 47.8V
The number of solar panels to be used is 9 panels.

Charge Controller Rating

Since the charge controller current rating is 20.25A,

the charge controller that will be selected is a 30A MPPT
charge controller with maximum dc input voltage of 96V, 24V
battery charging voltage.

Inverter Rating Figure 15: Graph of Voltage vs time of 3 phase motor

without VFD connected to grid
For the inverter selection, the researcher based the
selection on the power requirement. The power requirement
by the motor pump is 1.5kW. For the purpose of this study,
the researcher will multiply the rated power of the motor with
the safety factor 1.20 so the rating would be 1.8kW.

Components Selection

After determining the desired parameters of the

system, the researcher will then rate the components to be
used. For the Variable frequency drive, the rating will be 2kW Figure 16. Graph of Current vs time of 3 phase motor without
since the motor is rated 1.5kW to account for the losses of the VFD connected to grid
frequency drive. For the storage tank, the size will be 15,000
liters since the total demand is 35,760 liters per day. The
researcher chose this size so that on the afternoon, the motor
will fill the tank. For the size of wire, based on the data
gathered from the internet, the type of wire that will be used is
the USE-2, moisture and head resistant. Based on Philippine
Electrical Code, Table 3.10.1.16, the wire size that
corresponds to 25 amps is 2.0 mm2 or #14 AWG. From charge
controller to inverter, the maximum dc current to pass through
the conductor is almost 80 amps. The conductor size must be
at least 22 mm2 or #3 AWG.
Figure 17. Graph of Power vs time of 3 phase motor
without VFD connected to grid
 Based on the data collected, the three phase power of the
motor reaches up to 2500 W with an inrush current of 8.43A.
If this motor pump will be connected to the PV array with a
capacity of only 1.8kW, the system will not work.
Figure 18. Graph of Voltage vs time of 3 phase motor with
VFD connected to solar array
Figure 19. Graph of Current vs time of 3 phase motor with
VFD connected to solar array
Figure 20. Graph of 3 phase power vs time of 3 phase
motor with VFD connected to solar array
Based on the tables and graphs shown, the maximum
power that the motor attained with VFD is only 699 W
compared to the power of the motor without being connected
to the VFD which was 2.5kW. Also, the inrush current of the
motor disappeared because of the use of the VFD. Using the
designed PV array of 1.8kW, the motor pump can run
effectively.
Water Demand vs. Ideal Pumped Water
To check if the designed system can supply the
needed water, the researcher simulated the calculated data
through Microsoft excel. If the ideal pumped water exceeds
the water requirement, then the designed pumping system is
designed properly.
Figure 21. Water demand vs. Ideal pumped water
The graph shown above shows the comparison
between the water demand and the ideal pumped water. It
shows that the ideal pumped water exceeds the water
requirement of the system in every month. This means that
whatever month it is, the system can pump enough water to
the building. The researcher achieved this because the
insolation that was used was in the worst month that means
that even in the worst month, the system can pump enough
water. On the other hand, if it is in the month which has the
highest solar insolation, which is in April, the highest pumped
water can be achieved.
The researcher was not able to gather the data on the
actual water pumped because the stator wires of the motor
pump that was used was burned because of an incident
happened in the grid. The three phase line turned into single
phase thats why the motor was damaged. The graph shown
above must be the ideal water pumped, actual water pumped,
and the water demand.
IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
After all the designs and experiments have been
made, the researcher was able to design the solar water
pumping system that retrofits the conventional pumping
systems. The researcher also selected the components and its
sizes properly. Through series of experiments and testing, the
researcher found out that the inrush current is the major factor
why the solar array design capacity is very large. When the
researcher logged the data of the system when it is running,
the researcher found out that the total power reaches up to 3
times the normal operating power of the system. When the
variable frequency drive was applied in the system, there was
no inrush current experienced.
The researcher designed the PV array system with a
capacity of 1.8kW with 3 modules in series and 3 modules in
parallel. The motor pump has an efficiency of 36.99%. The
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