IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 19, NO.
3, SEPTEMBER 2004
Performance Analysis of a Directly Coupled
Photovoltaic Water-Pumping System
Mohanlal Kolhe, J. C. Joshi, and D. P. Kothari, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract—The application of a stand-alone directly coupled
photovoltaic (PV) electromechanical system for water pumping
has increased in remote areas of developing countries. In this
work, the performance of a PV-powered dc permanent-magnet
(PM) motor coupled with a centrifugal pump has been analyzed at
different solar intensities and corresponding cell temperature. The
results obtained by experiments are compared with the calculated
values, and it is observed that this system has a good match
between the PV array and the electromechanical system charac-
teristics. Through manual tracking (i.e., changing the orientation
of PV array, three times a day to face the sun) the output obtained
is 20% more compared to the fixed tilted PV array. It has been
observed that the torque-speed curve at low solar intensities for
a PV electromechanical system should be steeper than at higher
solar intensities, and the load torque-speed curve should be as
steep as possible in the operating region with low starting torque.
The performance analysis will be helpful to select the suitable PV
electromechanical system for water-pumping applications.
Index Terms—Centrifugal pump, dc permanent-magnet motor,
photovoltaic electromechanical system, water pumping.
NOMENCLATURE
Thermal voltage per cell.
PV array area.
Torque constant for rotational losses.
Viscous torque constant for rotational losses.
Reverse saturation current.
Photon current of each cell.
PV array short-circuit current.
Solar intensity on PV array.
Moment of inertia.
Voltage and torque coefficient of dc PM motor.
& Solar cells in parallel and series.
Armature resistance.
Series resistance of each solar cell.
& Electromagnetic and centrifugal pump load
torque.
& PV array voltage and current.
& Temperature coefficient for module current and
voltage.
PV array efficiency.
Load matching factor of PV array.
Manuscript received February 10, 2003. Paper no. TEC-00128-2002.
M. Kolhe is with the Hydrogen Research Institute, Université du Québec,
Trois-Riviéres, QC G9A 5H7, Canada (e-mail: mpkolhe@yahoo.com), on leave
from M.A. National Institute of Technology, Regional Engineering College,
Bhopal 462007, India.
J. C. Joshi and D. P. Kothari are with the Centre for Energy Studies,
Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016, India (e-mail: dkothari@
ces.iitd.ernet.in).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEC.2004.827032
0885-8969/04$20.00 © 2004 IEEE
613
DC motor-pump efficiency.
Shaft speed.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE application of a directly coupled photovoltaic (PV)
electromechanical system for water pumping has received
increasing attention recently because of the expected cost
reduction in PV array. More than 2 billion people, mostly
in developing countries, live in remote areas without access
to grid-connected power. In India, there are four to five mil-
lion diesel-powered water pump sets, each consuming about
3.5 kW. The requirements of PV modules are around 1000 peak
MW, for converting these diesel pump sets into the PV pump
system [1].
The directly coupled PV electromechanical system necessi-
tates a complete study from a mechanical load to the PV array,
but it leads to a very simple and reliable installation [2]–[8].
The PV array output is a nonlinear and time-dependent power
supply that varies with solar intensity and cell temperature, so
the performance characteristics of the PV-powered dc motor are
different than when powered by constant voltage. The cell tem-
perature effect on the PV array characteristics is not included
in many studies [7]–[10]. In a hot climate region, the cell tem-
perature effect on performance of the PV system becomes sig-
nificant. The proper matching among the components is the
main issue in a directly PV-powered electromechanical system.
For PV water-pumping application, the selection of a dc motor
with appropriate design parameters and pump load is also im-
portant [8]–[11]. The operating characteristics of the dc per-
manent-magnet (PM) motor coupled with a centrifugal pump
have suitable matching with PV array characteristics [3]–[11].
It operates during most of the daytime and also has low starting
torque as compared to the other directly coupled PV electro-
mechanical systems.
In this work, the performance of the dc PM motor coupled
with a centrifugal pump are analyzed at different solar intensi-
ties and corresponding cell temperatures. The Ministry of Non-
Conventional Energy Sources, Government of India, has pro-
vided 720 W (peak) PV array with dc PM motor coupled with
centrifugal pump for performance evaluation to the Center for
Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
This system is widely used at 5–8-m water head in remote areas
of India [12]. The performance analysis of such types of systems
will be useful to find the suitability of it at a region in which
the system is supposed to be installed. If average solar inten-
sity of that region is known, then the system parameters could
be chosen in such a way that the operating curve should match
with the PV array maximum-power points locus.
614 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 19, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2004

II. PV ARRAY AND DC PM MOTOR MODEL In the PV electromechanical system, the mechanical load should
The PV array consists of a number of solar cells, which are be in such a way that the maximum power from the PV array can
connected in series and parallel to achieve the required voltage be extracted at all solar intensities. The dc PM motor’s torque
and current. If the PV array has cells in parallel and cells speed (4) is differentiated with respect to current
in series, then the PV array current–voltage – equation is
given by [11], [13] (8)

(1) and at operating point, the electromagnetic torque is equal to

, where is the load torque. The must be as large
where is the photo current, is the reverse saturation cur- as possible to have an operating curve as vertical as possible,
rent, is the charge, is the series resistance, is the which results in a good match, and so should be small.
Boltzman’s constant, is the ideality factor, and is the cell At starting time, the motor speed will rise rapidly until it reaches
temperature. The current–voltage characteristics of PV array de- the normal operating condition. The dynamic equation of the
pend on the solar intensity and the cell temperature. The is motor is given by [10]
a function of the solar intensity and the cell temperature
. The PV array current and voltage at and are given
(9)
by [13]

(2) where is the moment of inertia, is the viscous torque con-

(3)
where and are the PV array current and voltage at the
reference solar intensity and the reference solar cell tem-
perature , is the PV array short-circuit current, and
and are the solar cell temperature coefficient for current
and voltage, respectively. Equations (1)–(3) are used to deter-
mine the current–voltage characteristics of the PV array at dif-
ferent solar intensities and cell temperatures. The dc PM motor’s
torque–speed relation in steady state is given by [14]
and (4)
where is the terminal voltage, is the torque and the
voltage coefficient of the dc PM motor, is the armature
resistance, and is the armature current. In case of a directly
PV-powered dc motor, the terminal voltage and the armature
current are equal to the PV array voltage and current. The
steady-state torque–speed relation of the system has been
obtained by using (1) and (4) and it is given by
stant for rotational losses, and is the torque constant for ro-
tational losses. The load should have low starting torque and
should be low at low speeds, and it should be high in
the operating region.
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experimental setup consists of 20 PV modules
(4 series 5 parallel), a dc PM motor coupled with centrifugal
pump, a pressure gauge, suction, and throttle valves, flow
meters, water reservoir tank, etc. In the system, the dynamic
head-on pump has been created through the suction and
delivery valves. The performance evaluation of the system has
been done by keeping the PV array at a fixed tilt of 30 and
also by changing the orientation of PV panels, three times a
day, to face the sun. At the operating point of the system, the
relationship among pump torque, speed, flow rate, and water
head can be obtained by considering the mechanical energy
balance of the pump. For the mechanical energy balance
(10)

(5)
The starting torque developed by a motor should be greater than
the frictional torque in order to accelerate the speed from zero to
the value determined by the solar intensity and the centrifugal
load. The starting torque of a dc motor is determined by
keeping the motor speed to zero and it is given by
(6)
It is assumed that the reverse saturation current in the PV array
is small compared to the photocurrent, that is
where is the water head, is the water flow rate, is the water
density, and is the gravitational constant. The PV motor-pump
system efficiency depends on the load characteristics and the
operating points at different solar intensities and cell tempera-
ture. The operating current voltage – of PV array is mainly
governed by the torque–speed characteristics. The PV
array efficiency is given by
(11)
where is the PV array area and is the instantaneous solar
intensity on PV array. The load-matching factor of PV array
depends on the operating point of dc motor-pump load and the
maximum-power point of PV array at the same solar intensity,
and it is given by

(7) (12)
KOLHE et al.: ANALYSIS OF A DIRECTLY COUPLED PHOTOVOLTAIC WATER-PUMPING SYSTEM 615

TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF DC PM MOTOR, LOAD, AND PV ARRAY

Fig. 1. Speed–torque characteristics of directly PV-powered dc PM motor at

different solar intensities with cell temperature and centrifugal load.

where is the maximum power of PV array at corre-

sponding solar intensity and cell temperature. The motor-pump
efficiency is given by

(13)

The overall system efficiency depends on the PV array effi-

ciency and the motor-pump efficiency, and it is given by
(14)
The PV array, the dc PM motor, and the centrifugal pump load
parameters, which have been used for this study, are given in
Table I.
The PV array parameters are substituted in the – (1), and
it becomes

(15) Fig. 2. Current–voltage characteristics of directly PV powered dc PM

motor—loads at different solar intensities with cell temperature.

For the steady-state operation, the electromagnetic torque of dc

motor becomes
(16)
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The performance analysis of the directly PV-powered dc PM
motor are studied. The steady-state speed–torque (electromag-
netic) characteristics of the dc PM motor are obtained at dif-
ferent solar intensities and corresponding cell temperature. They
are shown in the mechanical plane [Fig. 1]. The cen-
trifugal load characteristic is also shown in Fig. 1. It is observed
that the system started to operate at a low value of solar inten-
sity (i.e., 150 ) and performed during most of the day-
time. The operating points of the centrifugal load are trans-
ferred from the mechanical plane to the electrical
plane – of PV array as shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that
while the short-circuit current varies greatly with the solar in-
tensity level, the open-circuit voltage does not. This is because
the photocurrent , and hence, the short-circuit current, is
a linear function of solar intensity and the open-circuit voltage
is a logarithmic function of the solar intensity. The PV array
open-circuit voltage decreases with an increase in cell tempera-
ture. The PV module reverse saturation current, which increases
sharply with an increase in cell temperature, causes the open-cir-
cuit voltage to drop, whereas the short-circuit current increases
slightly with an increase in cell temperature. The overall re-
sult of these variations is a reduction in the PV array efficiency
with an increase in cell temperature. The current and voltage at
the maximum-power points are shown in Fig. 2 and the curve
among them is almost a vertical line. The voltage at the max-
imum-power point remains nearly constant at all solar intensi-
ties. The maximum-power points locus of a PV array is impor-
tant in the interest of designing the components of a PV pump
616 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 19, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2004

Fig. 4. Operating voltage and current with time for 5-m water head.

Fig. 3. Solar intensity and flow rate for fixed and manual tracking mode.

system in order to maximize power extraction from the PV array.

The armature resistance line, shown in Fig. 2, gives the
maximum starting armature current at different solar intensi-
ties. The short-circuit current of PV array, which depends on
the solar intensity, limits the starting armature current of the di-
rectly PV-powered dc motor.
If the system is exposed to a solar intensity of 200 m , the
operating point starts at (at open-circuit voltage) as shown in
Fig. 2 and moves along the – curve up to the point , where
the current reaches its maximum value. At the starting point, the
motor speed is zero, and hence, the open-circuit voltage is di-
rectly applied to the motor terminals. So the maximum starting
current of the motor depends on the armature resistance and the Fig. 5. Speed and shaft torque with time for 5-m water head.
short-circuit current of PV array, because the rotational voltage
of the dc motor is zero at the starting. As the motor starts rota-
tion, the current decreases from the point and traverses back
along the – curve to the point , where the steady-state oper-
ation is attained, and it is assumed that the solar intensity does
not change during that time.
The performance of the system has been analyzed for the
fixed PV panel position and also by changing the
orientation of PV panel three times a day, to keep the panels
facing the sun (i.e., manual tracking). The system has started
to rotate at solar intensity of 150 m with 1.8-A starting
current. The solar intensity on a PV array and the flow rate of
pumped water for 5-m head are shown in Fig. 3 for both fixed
position and manual tracking of the PV array.
It has been observed that the pumped water is 20% more in
the manual tracking operation compared to the fixed tilted PV
array. The system has operated most of the daytime with flow Fig. 6. Flow rate and daily volume of water for the free valves (suction and
rates between 20 to 140 lit/min, which depends on the solar in- delivery) and also at 5-m water head.
tensity. The mean daily volume of pumped water was 38 000 L
at the water head of 5 m with 9 h of operation on a typical study The flow rate and the volume of pumped water on a typical
day (in November at New Delhi, India). The PV array operating day of operation are shown in Fig. 6. These parameters have
voltage–current and the dc motor-pump shaft torque–speed are been measured at the 5-m water head and also at the free suc-
shown with respect to daytime, in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively, for tion-delivery valves that made the 2.5-m water head. It has been
the manual tracking operation. The fluctuations in solar inten- observed that the total volume of pumped water was 38 000 L at
sity set the operating points of the system in continuous motion water head of 5 m and 58 000 L at 2.5-m water head. The daily
along its characteristics curve. energy available from the PV array to the motor pump and the
KOLHE et al.: ANALYSIS OF A DIRECTLY COUPLED PHOTOVOLTAIC WATER-PUMPING SYSTEM
Fig. 7. Speed and shaft torque (calculated and experimental) with solar
intensity.
Fig. 8. Current and voltage (calculated and experimental) with solar intensity.
volume of daily pumped water can also be found out by using
the solar radiation utilizability concept [15].
The experimentally obtained and the calculated operating
torque–speed and voltage–current of the system are shown
with respect to solar intensity in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively. At
high solar intensities, the calculated speed matches with the
experimental values and the difference is less than 1.5%. But
in case of torque, there is around 7% deviation and it may be
due to frictional losses in the pipe network. The experimentally
obtained current deviates around 3.5% from the calculated
values and for the voltage, this difference is around 2%.
The motor-pump input power, the maximum power from PV
array, and corresponding load-matching factor are shown in
Fig. 9 with respect to solar intensity. The difference between the
experimentally obtained and the calculated results may be due
to temperature effect, mismatching between the PV modules,
instrumental error, frictional losses in pipe network, etc. The
simplification of small resistance and high shunt resistance
of the solar cell may have also contributed to the difference
between the experimental and calculated results.
The effect of water head on the motor-pump efficiency has
been studied to determine the optimum head for this system. The
617
Fig. 9. Load matching factor, maximum and operating PV array power with
solar intensity.
Fig. 10. PV motor-pump efficiency with water head.
motor-pump efficiency has been obtained with respect to water
head and shown in Fig. 10. It has been found that this system
gives the maximum efficiency at the 7-m water head. The ex-
perimentally obtained and the calculated values of motor-pump
and the overall PV pumping system efficiency with respect to
solar intensity are shown in Fig. 11. This dc motor-pump unit
has been designed for the rated speed of 2600 r/min, but the op-
erating speed of system changes with respect to solar intensity;
thus, the low motor-pump efficiency leading to the overall poor
system efficiency is unavoidable. The PV array efficiency also
depends on the cell temperature. During the afternoon period,
the solar intensity decreases but the cell temperature remains
high compared to the morning period for the same solar inten-
sity, and hence, the PV array efficiency decreases in the after-
noon period compared to the morning period.
Moreover, the system starts to pump in the morning and stops
in the evening without any external intervention and operates
with a good adaptation with the available solar intensity. The
proper matching between the motor-pump system and the
PV array is important for the system design. The selection of
pump is also important to match the conditions of variable
motor speed, required head, and maximum flow. The practical
application of this simple self-governing character of the
618 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 19, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2004
Fig. 11. PV motor-pump overall efficiency (calculated and experimental) with
solar intensity.
system ensures that the system can be installed in very remote
areas, where technical know-how of the system maintenance
and operation are very much limited.
V. CONCLUSION
The performance analysis of the directly PV-powered dc PM
motor coupled with a centrifugal pump has been analyzed at dif-
ferent solar intensities and corresponding cell temperatures. It
has been observed that the system operates most of the daytime
because of its higher starting torque even at low solar intensities.
The PV motor-pump system’s electromagnetic torque–speed
curve at low solar intensities should be steeper than at higher
solar intensities. The load should have a torque–speed curve that
increases as rapidly as possible in the operating region, which
provides a good match between the characteristics of the PV
array and the electromechanical system. Also, the load should
have low starting torque. The manual tracking (i.e., changing the
orientation of the PV array, three times a day to keep the arrays
facing the sun) gives 20% more output compared to the fixed
tilted PV array.
The performance analysis of the directly PV-powered dc
motor pump will be useful to select the suitable motor and load
for water-pumping applications in remote areas. If the average
solar intensity of a region in which the system is to be installed
is known, then the parameters of the system components could
be chosen by using the performance analysis such that the
load operating points should be near the maximum-power
point at around that solar intensity level. Thus, a higher system
efficiency and, in turn, higher flow could be obtained.
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Mohanlal Kolhe was born in India in 1969.
He received the Bachelor’s degree in electrical
engineering from the M.A. National Institute
of Technology (MANIT), Regional Engineering
College, Bhopal, India, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D.
degrees in energy system engineering from Indian
Institute of Technology Delhi, Delhi, India.
Currently, he is conducting postdoctoral research
in the area of renewable energy system based on en-
ergy storage as hydrogen at the Hydrogen Research
Institute, Université du Québec, Trois-Riviéres, QC,
Canada. He was a Faculty Member in electrical engineering at MANIT Bhopal
from 1994 to 2001.
J. C. Joshi received the Postgraduate and Doctoral degrees from the Allahabad
University, Allahabad, India.
His areas of interest include design, optimization, and evaluation of PV sys-
tems. His activities focus on field study of PV modules’ tracking and non-
tracking mode, environmental effect for long exposure, and loss mechanism in
PV system.
D. P. Kothari (SM’03) received the Bachelor’s de-
gree in electrical engineering, the Master’s degree in
power systems, and the Doctorate degree in electrical
engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology
and Science, Pilani, India.
Currently, he is Deputy Director (Administration)
of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi,
India. His activities include optimal hydrothermal
scheduling, unit commitment, maintenance sched-
uling, energy conservation, power quality, energy
system planning and modeling, and renewable
energy systems. He was a Visiting Professor with many international institutes.
Dr. Kothari has received several Best Paper Awards and Gold Medals for his
work.