Power: Solar Pumping System Offers Hope to Villagers
Engineering
By Dan Ede
The rural dwellers who have been consistently denied access to the basic amenities of modern living such as pipe borne water and electricity have no cause for alarm after all. What government denies them, God has provided ab initio; and now harnessed by Grundfos, a Danish water pumping machine market leader.
Grundfos solar-powered pumping systems are specially designed to operate in areas where no reliable electricity supply is available, or where electricity is entirely unavailable. Solar energy is converted into electricity by photovoltaic solar panels.
The solar energy is free and easily accessible to all. The process occurring in the solar panels is an entirely static process; and the only moving part in the whole system is the submersible motor/pumping unit. With this, power bills, operating and maintenance costs are eliminated.
Explaining the operation of this system to THISDAY, Mr. Raphael Uzochukwu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Techno Santo Mezel Limited, an Abuja-based water engineering outfit, said a solar-powered pumping machine "is a different kind of pumping machine in the sense that it does not require thermal engine or AC current from the national grid".
He continued: "In a place where one sunk a bore-hole, instead of using an electric water pump or even diesel-powered engine pump, one can now install solar water pump. It is a machine that comes with an 'inverter'. The work of the inverter is to convert the solar energy from DC to AC. When it is converted, it is now taken to the pump as AC current just like one taking current from the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).
"You also have what is called module. This module comes in layers, which are well displayed towards the direction of the sun. It is the module that receives the sun rays, stores the rays in such a way that even if something happens and the sun is beclouded for some days, it can still retain these rays for days, weeks or months; and these can as well be converted by the inverter".
It is also possible for one using the machine to decide not to get connected to NEPA or any generator. The solar modules, Uzochukwu said, are capable of supplying light to every aspect of one's compound -the bore-hole, TV, radio, air conditioner, fluorescent tube, refrigerators, etc. "Solar modules, once installed, can power the whole house. In this case, it is almost maintenance free. It is cost free; you are not going to look for fuel or diesel for the machine", Uzochukwu, who is also a dealer on the machine, said.
Photovoltaic solar pumping systems have many advantages. The most obvious one is that there is a natural relationship between the availability of solar energy and the water requirement.
In many parts of the world, surface water is available, but this water is very often contaminated and directly responsible for a number of infectious diseases. A grundfos solar pumping system would make it possible to tap underground water which is generally clean. The water can be pumped during the day and stored in community storage facilities.
independent solar pumping system can be installed anywhere without regard to energy costs and supplies.
Besides, the availability of water permits an increase in the productivity of cattle grazing operations. An increased water supply per head will most certainly result in a higher forage intake.
An adequate supply of water for cattle, sheep, goats, etc. in remote areas can be ensured by installing a Grundfos solar-powered livestock watering system; and new areas can be utilized. You do not have to think about fuel cost, fuel transport, and maintenance.
The system is reliable and can pump water from sunrise to sunset year in year out. The only proviso is the price. An average solar pumping machine costs between N600,000 and N700,000. But its life span is unlimited. Modules can wear out and be replaced; likewise other components of the machine. But the machine remains forever. Therefore, in the short run, it is costly. But in the long run, it is not only cost effective, but also cheap.
|
