National Solar Mission

The objective of the National Solar Mission is to establish India as a global leader in
solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as
quickly as possible. Under the original plan, the Government aimed to achieve a total
installed solar capacity of 20 GW by 2022.

The Government revised the target from 20 GW to 100 GW on 1 July 2015. To reach 100
GW by 2022, the yearly targets from 2015 to 2016 onwards were also revised
upwards.[9]

Solar Panels or Photovoltaic Cells:

Solar Panels or Photovoltaic Cells convert sunlight into electricity.

Types of solar cells

Single crystal, polycrystal and amorphous silicon cells have been employed.

The open circuit voltage is about 0.5 V for mono-and polycrystal solar cells and 0.8 V
for amorphous cells. Each cell can carry a current between 2 and 3 A.

By connecting solar cells in a suitable series and parallel combination, required voltage
and current ratings are obtained.

The mounting of solar cells in series and parallel combination is known as Solar Panel
or Solar Array.

Each parallel branch is provided with a diode in order to avoid circulating currents.
When a panel consisting of cells in series is used to charge a battery, a diode is
connected so that current never flows from the battery to the solar cells.

At present solar cells have low efficiency. The single crystal cells manufactured in India
by CEL and BHEL have an efficiency of 10 to 12%. Internationally, commercially available
units have efficiency in the range of 12-16%. In laboratories, 20% efficiency has been
achieved by adding microcrystalline silicon to a solar cell.

The cost of solar panels in rupees per peak watt has substantially reduced in the recent
past, but it still continues to be high at Rs 100-150
I-V characteristics

The output of Solar Panels or Photovoltaic Cells depends on the insolation level
(brightness of the sunlight) and the temperature. Figure 9.1 gives the 1-V characteristic
of a solar panel for a given insolation level. Output power P vs V curve is also shown. At
the operating point, a solar panel delivers the maximum power (Pm).

Effect of Temperature

In the winter, it’s also less likely for solar panels to reach their peak temperature, or
peak power.4 Once their temperature rises above that peak temperature, solar panel
performance decreases.

This irregularity in light intensity leads to deviation of voltage output produced by the
solar panel. With the use of buck-boost converters, the amount of output voltage
may be set to higher or lower than the input voltage, enabling us to maintain the
desired output voltage.
 In Fig. 9.2 I- V curves are given for three insolation levels IN1, IN2 and IN3. The curve abc
is the locus of maximum power points. By operating at maximum power points, the
output of solar panel can be maximized

or for a given power output, the cost of solar panel can be minimised. Therefore, drive
is designed so that the Solar Panels or Photovoltaic Cells operates at or close to
maximum power points.

Fig. 9.2 Effect of insolation level on solar panel per peak watt.

Basic types of solar panel systems:

There are two basic types of solar panel systems:
● Grid-direct (on-grid, grid-connected, grid-tied) systems
● Off-grid systems.
The main difference between these two types of PV systems is whether they are
connected to the grid or not.
‘The grid’ is the distribution system used by public utility companies to deliver electricity
to business and residential consumers.

Grid-tied solar panel systems

Grid-tied (on-grid, grid-direct, grid-connected) photovoltaic systems:
Produce electricity
Use electricity from the grid
Export electricity to the grid.
Grid-tied systems without battery backup are built in regions where power outages
rarely happen and for short periods.
It includes the network of electrical towers, poles, and wires that are built across the
country.
Such a network delivers electricity from coal burning, nuclear or water-generated power
plants into commercial buildings and residential houses.

Off-grid systems.

Motors Suitable for Pump Drives:

For low power applications (< 1 kW) permanent magnet dc motor is generally preferred
because of its higher part load efficiency. A motor rated around 400 W may have full
load efficiency in the range of 77-86% and half-load efficiency in 68-86%. By comparison,
typical induction motors of similar power ratings would have efficiencies in the range of
25-65%. Because of high efficiency of dc motors, the Solar Panels or Photovoltaic Cells
can have smaller power rating. Therefore, although a permanent magnet dc motor is
more expensive than induction motor, the dc drive has much lower cost compared to
the induction motor drive. The main problem with dc motor is that it requires the change
of brushes after 200 to 400 hrs, and if this is not done, some motors can suffer
irreparable damage. Certain dc motors are being offered with claimed brush life of
about 10,000 hrs, and these would be better for this type of application. The brushless
dc motor is also being used to overcome the problem of frequent brush replacement.

For ratings higher than 1 kW three-phase squired-cage induction motor is preferred

because of high efficiency, maintenance free operation and long life.

Solar Powered Pump Drives:

Solar Powered Pump Drives: Centrifugal and reciprocating. Their speed-torque

characteristics are shown in Fig. 9.3. Centrifugal pump requires only a small torque to
start whereas reciprocating pump owing to stiction may require as much as three times
the rated torque. In centrifugal pump the output power is proportional to the cube of
speed, and therefore, drastically reduces as the speed is reduced; for example, the
output power reduces to half at a speed of 80%. In reciprocating pump, since with a
reduction in speed the torque reduces only by a small amount, the percentage reduction
in output is slightly more than the percentage reduction in speed.

A simple scheme of Solar Powered Pump Drives using a permanent magnet dc motor is
shown in Fig. 9.4. The solar panel directly feeds the motor. One can connect the solar
cells to form a low-voltage-high-current or low-current-high-voltage unit. A low
current-high-voltage arrangement is preferred because of lower proportion of losses in
the motor and solar panel. However, a dc voltage more than 80 volts may present a
serious electrocution hazard and should be avoided. Since the solar cells themselves
regulate the maximum output current no starter is required for the dc motor.

Noting that in a permanent magnet dc motor, the torque is proportional to armature

current and back emf proportional to speed, the motor speed-torque characteristics for
different insulation levels can be obtained from Fig. 9.2. These are shown in Fig. 9.5. For
the optimum utilization of solar panel, the operation should take place at the maximum
power points. This is not possible in the simple drive of Fig. 9.4. However, in case of
centrifugal pump, the parameters of motor and pump can be matched so that the solar
panel operates close to the maximum power points as shown in Fig. 9.5. Points
corresponding to maximum power points of the solar panel are shown by ‘x’.
Better utilization of solar panel is obtained by reconnecting solar cells, as explained with
the help of Fig. 9.6. Characteristics 1 to 4 correspond to normal connection. The panel
operates close to maximum power points with insolation levels corresponding to
characteristics 1 and 2. By reconnecting the solar cells so that there are more units in
parallel and less in series, the characteristics 3 and 4 can be modified to characteristics
3′ and 4′, which then provide operation closer to the maximum power points compared
to the simple scheme of Fig. 9.4.
For better matching a step-down chopper is inserted between the solar panel and the
motor. With the help of the maximum-power point tracker, the duty ratio of the chopper
is varied to obtain the solar panel operation at the maximum power-points for all
insolation levels. The circuit for this is shown in Fig. 9.7. It should, however, be noted
that the addition of one more power stage (i.e. chopper) increases the losses. Thus,
although this scheme permits the extraction of the maximum power from the solar
panel, because of the increase in losses, the power supplied to the pump may not
increase significantly. Therefore, for a given application, calculation should be done for
the losses and additional power output, so as to decide whether the chopper and
maximum power point tracker should be employed or not. Use of the chopper and
maximum ­power-point tracker offers an additional advantage. It ensures matching for
all pump sites; although the pump parameters change with the change of site.

If a reciprocating pump is used, then the pump characteristic relative to the

characteristic-I of the motor will be as shown in Fig. 9.8. The characteristics of motor
and pump have been adjusted such that at the rated conditions of the motor and pump,
maximum power is taken from the solar panel at normal insolation level. Such a drive
will fail to start. One solution to this problem is to use two sets of solar panels, which
are normally connected in series. For starting they are connected in parallel. This
changes characteristic-1 to characteristic-1′ and the motor can now start because its
torque exceeds stiction. This arrangement, however, does not allow operation near the
maximum power points. Another alternative is to use a step-down chopper, which will
allow the characteristic-1 to be modified to characteristic-1′ as shown in Fig. 9.8. Now
the motor can start. The step-down chopper in conjunction with the maximum-
power-point-tracker will also ensure that the maximum available power is extracted
from the solar panel. Starting in this manner will make it necessary to operate the
chopper at low duty ratio and high current. Thus, a semiconductor switch with high rms
current rating will be required. This disadvantage can be eliminated by giving a push to
the pump with the help of a rope and pulley arrangement to overcome stiction. The
maximum power tracking control will however be necessary to ensure that the pump is
also able to run at low insolation levels.

The main objection to the dc motor drive is the presence of brushes which must be
replaced after certain period, otherwise irreperable damage may be done to the motor.
In view of this there is a need for improved brush material and construction such that
the life of the brush will be long and after it wears, the motor will stop by itself.

For pump ratings of 1 kW and above, three phase induction motor drive is employed. As
shown in Fig. 9.9, a PWM voltage source inverter with maximum-power-point-tracker is
used for variable frequency control of the squirrel-cage induction motor.
Solar Powered Pump Drives with an intermediate battery, as shown in Fig. 9.10, can also
be used. The drive is fed from the battery charged by solar panel.

Such a drive will have three advantages:

● It can be run without battery when some sunlight is available. With battery it can
be run at a convenient time.
● In agriculture applications, it will generally run only for the part of a day, but the
solar cells will be charging the battery for the whole day. Therefore, the solar
panel rating can be substantially reduced, thus considerably reducing the cost
of the drive.
● Battery drive can provide large torque. It is therefore suitable for reciprocating
pumps necessary in some applications where high pressure is required, e.g.
pumping water from deep wells etc.

Use of battery has two disadvantages:

● it requires frequent maintenance, which can be a serious problem in remote

places and
● a charge controller is required to protect it from overcharge and excessive
discharge.

An alternative to battery for agriculture pumps will be to utilise the drive during idle
period to pump water in an overhead tank and to use this water under low insolation
levels.