Design and Modelling of a large-scale Solar

Water Pumping System for irrigation

in Saudi Arabia

Abdulhamid Alshamani 27 October, 2017

MEng student
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Memorial University of Newfoundland
[email protected]

Supervised by: 30 minutes

Prof. Dr. Tariq M. Iqbal
 2


Outline
 Introduction
 System description
 Sizing Optimization
 Results of sizing
 Possible energy storage methods
 The proposed system
 System modelling
 Results of simulation
 Conclusions and Recommendations
 Future work
 Research contribution
 Published work
 3

Introduction

 Agriculture areas; more than 1.5

million hectares.

 Majority located in remote areas.

Fig. 1: An agricultural area near of Tabuk city in the

northern area of Saudi Arabia.

 High density of sunshine.

 Government support; low-interest

loan.

Fig. 2: Global horizontal irradiation of Saudi Arabia.

 4

Introduction
Solar powered water pumping system :
 Appropriate choice for the grid-isolated areas.
 Have the ability to distribute water without any type of additional power or the
complicated upkeep.

Fig. 3: Constituents of solar powered water pumping

systems.

 Many studies of small-scale have been commonly conducted; rarely for

large-scale.
 5


System Description (case study)
Water demand:

 1260 date palm trees

 95% of the water consumption

 A mature date palm tree consumes 184.4 l/day

Fig. 4: Date palm trees, Riyadh.

 245 m3; The typical desirable amount of water per day.

 6


System Description
System layout

Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of the required Solar Water Pumping System

 7


System sizing
Sizing tools

• HOMER; developed and tested by National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL)

• PVsyst; designed to be used by architects, engineer, and researchers.

 8


System sizing
Pump sizing

The following expressions are used to determine the pump size.

Phyd= 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 (W) (1)
𝜌𝜌𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔
P= (2)
𝜂𝜂

TDH = 111 m (vertical) + [(1.8 x 3 elbows) + 20 m] x 20% + 4 m (vertical) = 120.08 ~ 120 m

Pump size = 5.448 kW

 9


System sizing
Solar PV, battery, converter sizing Homer software

Fig. 7: Schematic of electrical system components connection.

Fig. 6: Solar irradiation in selected site, Riyadh
 10


System sizing
Solar PV, battery, converter sizing Homer software

Load inputs:
5.448 kW
8 Operating hours

Fig. 8: Screenshot for the load inputs.

 11


System sizing
Solar PV, battery, converter sizing Homer software

Results:
11.6 kW (solar PV)
6.8 kW (converter)
9 (12 V 200Ah battery)

Fig. 9: Screenshot for the optimized system.

 12


System sizing
Solar PV, battery, converter sizing Homer software

19,457 kWh/year ( energy production)

15,349 kWh/year (load consumption)
8.9 % Excess electricity
100% Renewable source

Fig. 10: Screenshot for simulation results.

 13


System sizing
Solar PV, battery, converter sizing Homer software

9 batteries (12 V 200Ah)

Voltage bus level: 108V

Fig. 11: Schematic diagram of batteries connection. Fig. 12: Screenshot for simulation results (batteries).
 14


System sizing
Solar PV, converter, tank size PVsyst software

TDH parameters in PVsyst:

Same inputs of pump size
calculation

Fig. 13: Screenshot for simulation TDH parameters (PVsyst).

 15


System sizing
Solar PV, converter, tank size PVsyst software

Simulation parameters and

results:
• 11.5 kW PV
• 2 X 3.7 KW pumps
• Average water needs 242
m3/day
• 89.4 % System efficiency

Fig. 14: Screenshot for the main simulation results (PVsyst).

 16


System sizing
Solar PV, converter, tank size PVsyst software

Simulation results:
• Water demand varies along
with solar irradiation.
• Average missing water is 2.3%
• Average pumping water is
236.8 m3/day

Fig. 15: Daily water production vs Irradiation (PVsyst).

 17


Results
Comparing the results of both HOMER and PVsyst

TDH parameters in PVsyst: TDH estimation for HOMER:

TDH = 111 m (vertical) + [(1.8 x 3 elbows)

+ 20 m] x 20% + 4 m (vertical) = 120.08 ~
120 m

Fig. 16: Screenshot for simulation TDH parameters (PVsyst).

 18


Results
Comparing the results of both HOMER and PVsyst

Main results of such system:

Table 1: The main results of both HOMER and PVsyst.

• The batteries can be replaced HOMER PVsyst

by a storage tank.
Pump size 5.4 kW 2 x 3.2 kW
• The system cost includes w/ eff. 65% w/ eff. 57.3%
installations, cable, and PV 11.6 kW 11.5 kW
wiring.
Batteries 9 ( 4 hrs) 0
• Water cost are equal due to
the missing water in PVsyst system cost 38,905 USD 36,200 USD
sizing since there is no Water cost 0.04 USD/m3 0.04 USD/m3
batteries to substitute the
voltage drop.
 19

Possible energy storage methods

Energy
storage for 2
cloudy days

27 batteries Water storage tank

(200Ahr-12V) (490 m3)

Vulnerable to high Water leakage or

Expensive temperature evaporation
 20


Proposed system
System description

• A standalone PV system.

• 11.5 Kw (50 modules, 230 W)

• Designed with 9 batteries (200 A-

12V)

• DC coupled
Fig. 17: The block diagram of the proposed system.

• Two stages DC-DC boost converter.

 21


System modelling
PV modelling

Peak Power W 230

Max power voltage Vmp 29.23
Max power current Imp 7.88
Open circuit voltage Voc 36.54
Short circuit current Isc 8.38
Module efficiency % 14
Ns 2
Np 25

Fig. 4: The equivalent circuit of solar cell.

 22


System modelling
PV modelling

KTop
Vt = (3)
q

Isc
Irs = Voc q (4)
[eKCTop n ]

V+Irs
Ish = (5)
Rp

(V+Irs )
Id = [e (NVt CNs) − 1]Is Np (6)

I = Iph Np − Id − Ish (7)

Iph Fig. 4: The equivalent circuit of solar cell.

Voc = Vt ln (8)
Is

Iph = Gk [Isc + K1 Top − Tref ] (9)

System modelling  PV modelling 23

Fig. 19: Overview of the solar array modeled in Simulink

 24


System modelling
Modeling of two stages dc-dc boost converter

TABLE 2. THE PARAMETERS OF DC-DC BOOST CONVERTER.

First stage (FS) Second stage (SS)

Vin 58V Vin 110V

Vout 110V Vout 380V

fS 25kHz fS 40kHz

𝜂𝜂 90% 𝜂𝜂 90%

Fig. 20: The block diagram of two stages DC-DC boost converter.
 25


System modelling
Modeling of two stages dc-dc boost converter

A. Duty cycle: B. Inductor selection:

The maximum duty cycle for both can be
obtained from this expression:
𝑉𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 ×(𝑉𝑉𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 −𝑉𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼)
𝑉𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 ×𝜂𝜂 𝐿𝐿 = (11)
∆𝐼𝐼𝐿𝐿 ×𝑓𝑓𝑆𝑆 ×𝑉𝑉𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂
𝐷𝐷 = 1 − (10)
𝑉𝑉𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂

𝑉𝑉𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 : minimum input voltage 58 × (110 − 58)

𝐿𝐿𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = = 115.25 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇
𝑉𝑉𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 : output voltage 9.51 × 25000 × 110
𝜂𝜂 : converter efficiency
58 × 0.9 110 × (380 − 110)
𝐷𝐷𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 1 − = 53% 𝐿𝐿𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = = 179.64 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇
110 10.88 × 40000 × 380
110 × 0.9
𝐷𝐷𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 1 − = 73%
380
 26

System modelling
Modeling of two stages dc-dc boost converter

Two methods of controllers have been used:

MPPT with P&O algorithm. 2. PID controller.
Efficiency improver Pump voltage level meeting
charging controller

Fig. 21: Perturbation and observation method algorithm. Fig. 22: P&O algorithm implementation.
 27


System Modelling
Modeling dc shunt motor and centrifugal pump

Load 5.5 kW DC shunt motor

connected to a centrifugal pump

TABLE 3. MOTOR AND PUMP SPECIFICATIONS.

DC PUMP SPECIFICATIONS

Pump Max Max

voltage Outlet
Model Impeller Power Flow Head
(V) (IN)
(W) (M3/H) (M)

4ZPC14/148- Centrifugal
DC380 5500 10 120 4
D380/5.5 (SS)
DC SHUNT MOTOR SPECIFICATIONS Fig. 23: DC shunt motor simulation in Simulink.

Rated Rated
Rated speed
Rated voltage (V) current torque Rotor inertia(Kg.cm2)
(RPM)
(A) (N.M)

380 1700 15 14.5 0.01

 28


Simulation results and discussions
The final designed circuit in Simulink/Matlab

Fig. 24: The proposed system model in Simulink.

 29


Simulation results
PV inputs and outputs

Fig. 25: (a) Temperature °C. (b) Solar Irradiation W/m (c) PV output voltage, V. (d) PV output current, A. (e) PV output power, kW.
 30


Simulation results
Results

Fig. 26: Output voltage of fixed DC-DC converter controller by a MPPT Fig. 27: Output voltage of the second DC-DC converter stage.
algorithm.
 31


Simulation results
Results

Fig. 28: Motor load speed, 1700 rpm. Fig. 29: Motor torque, 14.5 N.m
 32


Simulation results
Results

Fig. 30: Flow rate, 0.0027 m3/s.

 33

Conclusions & Recommendations

 Conclusion:

 Comparable results were attained from the use of both Homer and PVsyst.
A PV system rated at 11.6 kW was used for Homer, while a 11.5 kW system
was used for PVsyst.

 Sizing PVWPS has been carried out and economically analyzed; helping to
understand the whole concept of using renewable energy over
conventional energy.

 Exploiting such systems in a place like Saudi Arabia yields, to some extent,
the lowest water extraction cost with $0.04 for each m3.

 It was compared to a diesel generator system(DSG); resulting in a quite

difference in the cost of energy (COE) with 1.88 USD/kWh for the DGS,
while the PVWPS (HOMER, PVsyst) is (0.25, 0.18 USD/kWh respectively).
 34

Conclusions & Recommendations

 The dynamic modeling of a large scale solar powered water pumping system
has been carried out successfully using Matlab/Simulink .

 Simulation results that have been obtained show satisfactory outcomes.

 Dynamic results indicate that using:

MPPT algorithm for the first DC-DC stage & PID controller for the second DC-DC stage

Able to achieve the objective for a variation in the input temperature and input solar
irradiance.
 35

Conclusions & Recommendations..cont.

Recommendations

 Using a water storage tank over batteries is highly recommended ;costing 25% of the batteries expenses on the
course of 20 years.

 Drip irrigation which is considered the best method for water distribution. It has been compared to other irrigation
methods and comes as the most efficient way with 85% efficiency.

Future work:

 It will be related to the modeling and controlling of the system.

 Developing an experimental work and comparing the performance of both approaches.

 the data logging system should be developed based on experimental work such as writing cods for Arduino and
configuring the monitoring system.
 36

Conclusions & Recommendations..cont.

A list of resulting publications:

1. Abdulhamid Alshamani, Tariq M. I qbal, “Sizing and Modelling of a large deep water Solar
Water Pumping System for irrigation in Saudi Arabia” presented at IEEE NECEC 2016
conference, St. John’s, Canada.

2. Abdulhamid Alshamani, Tariq M. I qbal, “Feasibility of using a Large Deep Water PV Water
Pumping System A case study for an average farm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia” presented at IEEE
IEMCON 2017 conference, Vancouver, Canada.

3. Abdulhamid Alshamani, Tariq M. I qbal, “Modelling of a large-scale Solar Powered Water

Pumping System for irrigation in Saudi Arabia” presented at IEEE IEMCON 2017 conference,
Vancouver, Canada.
 37

Thank You for Your Attention

Q&A