When it comes to stand-alone solar pumping systems, the main types include rotating and positive displacement pumps. Centrifugal pumps are the common choice for rotation and are designed for fixed head applications. Their output increases in proportion to their speed of rotation.
Additionally, pumps are also classified as submersible and surface pumps, based on their placement (underwater and above the waterline).
Source: [Report] Solar Water Pump Technology Roadmap
Solar pumps have many types, but the most major types are given below:
- Submersible Solar Pump
- Surface Solar Pump
- DC Solar Pump
- AC Solar Pump
- AC DC Hybrid System Solar Pump
1) Submersible Solar Pumps
A submersible pump lifts up to a high level of water and can be installed in large wells. As long as the well water is more than 20ft above the surface, these pumps operate directly to turn off batteries, solar panels, and in some cases, electricity.
When the sun is shining, the pump pumps the water during the entire day, and water is stored in water tanks to be used when needed. The water can’t be pumped in bad weather because the sun can’t shine in bad weather. Therefore, it is advisable to store the water in water tanks only in good climate conditions.
These solar pump types are mostly used in deep water and undrilled areas. These pumps are also used for livestock watering, pond aeration, home water systems, irrigation, pressurization, and well pumping.
2) Surface Solar Pumps
These types of pumps are used in streams, storage tanks, shallow wells, or ponds. When the well water supply depth is 20ft or less from the ground, we use a surface solar water pump.
In general, these pumps cannot pump very high water from deep wells and can pump water up to 200ft or more. These pumps can easily lift water from depths of up to 20m.
3) DC Solar Pump
This pump has an electric motor that uses DC. Therefore, no inverter is required in this pump. Now DC pump is popular, for example, diaphragm DC solar pump, helical rotor DC solar pump, centrifugal DC solar pump.
What’s more, the battery can be also used with connection to the outer controller. Generally, it’s suggested to stock water in the water tank at day sunny time, in order to use water at night. The battery is with a limited lifetime at no cheap cost, if stock water is enough for the application, it’s not suggested to use the battery. Therefore, the battery is only an option if people have an abundant budget.
4) AC Solar Pumps
The electric motor used in this type of pump works with alternating current. With the help of an inverter, the direct current produced by the switchboard is converted into alternating current. This conversion can lead to power outages during production and use.
AC power lifts to a high level of water and also a large amount of water capacity, it’s widely used for large irrigation systems or desert control projects, etc. With the water level used in the pump system, it’s convenient to achieve automatically working by the system itself.
5) AC DC Hybrid System Solar Pump
There are applications and times when solar power alone is not the most practical or economical solution. Think of applications where there are times in the day or times in the year where sizing a solar system for the peaks means that the solar system is oversized for most of the year and so not the best investment.
Let us think about a simple example: If we have fruit tree irrigation, we can size a system that delivers all the water for 10 months of the year, but we need 30% extra for the 2 months before harvest. Using a hybrid system, we can meet 95% of our annual demand with solar and the 5% annual extra (30% for 2 months) with generator power.
Installing expensive and inefficient battery systems are not a good answer as the capital investment and relatively short life would make the project very expensive. Installing hybrid power is a much more sensible way to manage these short-term needs.
In this article, we discuss the classification of solar water pumps. Ultimately, we conclude that these are most efficient pumps than traditional pumps. These pumps also have low cost than traditional pumps.
Solar pumps are mostly widely using all over the world. The popularity of these pumps is increasing day by day due to their low price and compatibility. If you have any questions regarding solar pumps, please let me know in the comment box.
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