~ e p r i n t e df r o m

S o l a r Energy Vo2 . , 2 2.

ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR APPLICATIONS

FOR TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY:
A C a s e o f S o l a r Pump

J y o t i K. Parikh

December 1 9 7 8

R e s e a r c h Memoranda a r e i n t e r i m r e p o r t s on
r e s e a r c h b e i n g conducted by t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l
I n s t i t u t e f o r Applied Systems A n a l y s i s , and
a s s u c h r e c e i v e o n l y l i m i t e d s c i e n t i f i c re-
view. Views o r opinions contained herein
do n o t n e c e s s a r i l y represent those of t h e
I n s t i t u t e o r o f t h e N a t i o n a l Member O r g a n i -
zations supporting the Institute.
PREFACE

IIASA's Energy Systems Program examines v a r i o u s e n e r g y

options, including s o f t options. I t h a s been f e l t by many t h a t ,
d u e t o t h e i r d e c e n t r a l i z e d n a t u r e , s o l a r a p p l i c a t i o n s would b e
r e l e v a n t f o r t h e r u r a l e n v i r o n m e n t and e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e d e v e l -
o p i n g c o u n t r i e s , where e l e c t r i c i t y i s o f t e n n o t a v a i l a b l e .
Therefore, a c l o s e examination of s p e c i f i c s o l a r a p p l i c a t i o n s
i s c a r r i e d o u t t o see i f t h e y c o u l d m e e t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s of
t h e u s e r under f i e l d c o n d i t i o n s .

A p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t e r e s t i n g question is t h e use of s o l a r
power i n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n . T h i s p a p e r compares s o l a r
w a t e r pumping a n d d i e s e l pumps c h o s e n a s r e f e r e n c e t e c h n o l o g y
i n p r e s e n t day o p e r a t i o n . The f i n d i n g s p o i n t t o t h e i m p o r t a n c e
of c a r e f u l l y adapting s o f t s o l a r technologies t o l o c a l conditions.
I t a l s o exemplifies t h e s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e develop-
ment p o t e n t i a l of g i v e n t e c h n o l o g i c a l c o n c e p t s w i t h r e s p e c t t o
varying c o n d i t i o n s of use.

The a r t i c l e p o i n t s o u t t h e c h a l l e n g e s t h a t l i e ahead i n t h e
d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e s e a p p l i c a t i o n s and stresses t h a t t h e s e d e v e l -
opments s h o u l d a c c o u n t f o r t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s of t h e f i e l d con-
d i t i o n s f o r a s u c c e s s f u l t r a n s f e r o f t e c h n o l o g y from l a b o r a t o r y
to field.
 .
Solar E n e q r Vol ?I. pp 99-106 W3W)92~/781&30l~IW2
WIO
.
@ Pergarnon Press Lld I 9 8 Prlnled In Greal B r ~ l a ~ n

ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR APPLICATIONS FOR

TRANSFER O F TECHNOLOGY
A CASE OF SOLAR PUMP?$

JYOTI K. PARIKH
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria

(Received 14 M a y 1977; in recised form 10 January 1978; received for publication I March 1978)

Abstract-For the large and increasing rural population in the developming countries, decentralized solar ap-
plications could be relevant. However, new solar technologies being developed in the laboratories presently have to
ultimately be acceptable in the field conditions. The conditions which have to be satisfied before the solar
applications could be acceptable are discussed. The solar pump is examined in detail in particular due to the
interest expressed by many developing countries in this specific application. A comparative techno-economic
analysis is carried out for solar pumps and diesel pumps which considered escalation of the diesel price and factors
related to climate, geography, locale, social and institutional environment for two types of uses namely for drinking
water and for irrigation. It seems unlikely that a solar pump could compete with the diesel engine before the costs
are brought down by a factor of 20-50 for irrigation purposes. However, for obtaining the drinking water the cost
reduction required is by a factor less than 10 than currently charged for the prototypes. Although specific example
of India is taken the matters are relevant ts most developing countries. The issues discussed for the case of a solar
pump are also relevant to other solar applications used only for seasonal purposes since the capital costs are high
and operating diesel pumps during the season would be cheaper for several decades.

I. INTRODUCTION its progress is slow because it is capital intensive, espe-

The intensity of solar radiation is low and therefore a cially when it involves connecting remote villages to the
considerable amount of land is required for'utilizing solar network. Thus, there is a need for developing decen-
energy. Solar applications therefore would be more suit- tralized energy systems for the rural areas.
able for the rural environment where the land is available Scientists and technologists do come up occasionally
easily rather than for the urban areas. Conventional with solutions for decentralized energy systems. When
centralized energy systems have not yet reached the these are not adopted they generally complain about the
large rural population in many developing countries. difficulties of technology transfer, resistance from
Solar applications which contribute a decentralized established interests, etc. Though these obstacles are not
energy system could provide a significant improvement to be underestimated, their claims about the relevance of
in economic productivity in the rural areas. their research and development are many times not
According to an estimate of the United Nations[l]. in found to be valid for actual adaptations in the field when
1970 the rural population of the world was 2.26 billion all the facts are put together. Therefore, a careful ap-
out of which 1.89 billion were in the developing coun- praisal of the difficulties of the transfer of technology is
tries. The percentage of persons living in the rural areas essential.
of the developing countries is expected to decrease from In this paper we consider first the issues that are
75 per cent in 1970 to 59.2 per cent by 2000A.D. important in assessing technology. Then some of the
However, their absolute number will still be 2.92 billion, solar technologies are evaluated keeping these issues in
a substantial increase over the present number. Figure 1 mind. Since photovoltaic cells are very expensive at
shows the region-wise rural population. as projected in present, we have considered for this analysis only
Ref. [I]. decentralized low thermal devices. In particular solar
The energy requirements of rural people, although pumping is evaluated in detail as a case study.
extremely low, are largely met at present by locally Algebraic expressions can be used for application to
available non-commercial resources such as firewood, any country, although numerical results for the specific
agricultural waste and dung. Yet, energy planners in the case of India are given.
governments of most of the developing countries are
concerned primarily with the development of large
energy systems, appropriate for urban and industrial 2. ISSUES CONCERNING THE TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
purposes. Although efforts are being made in most of Here "Technology transfer" would mean the transfer
the developing countries to expand rural electrification of invention from a laboratory to the field. It has t o be
recognized that the users cannot run an experimental
tpublished in the proceedings of the expert group meeting on energy system. Due weight has t o be given to the per-
solar energy organized by UNIDO, Vienna, February 1977 and fection of the invention and the development of in-
the proceedings of UNESCOINELP Conference on Solar stitutions which are required, such as establishments
Energy, London, May, 1977.
SViews or opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily which look after the user's problem. The user's view-
reflect those of the National Member Organizations supporting point could be classified into two categories; techno-
the Institute or of the Institute itself. economic and social or relating to the operating en-

SE Vol. 21. No. 2 X 99

 2000 -

-", - 1500

-
c
0
.-
-

/
.- Far East
E
-
.-C
C
0
.-
-'0 1000-
2
a
g C P L D Asia
-
!! /
LZ

--
500 -

L a t ~ nAmerica

I I
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2003
Source: Ref !I1 Years

Fig. I. Past and projected rural population of developing regions.

vironment in which the technology has to be used. In at all he needs it. Of course, the fringe benefits and
general, the following points need to be considered. conveniences and nuisances of both the alternatives
should be weighed appropriately. Only then one under-
Pricate and social benefits stands why certain innovations are not catching on. In
The benefits, savings, etc. are often calculated on addition, possible future developments in the existing
national, state or village levels and not for the consumer alternatives should also be considered.
who is going to use it. Though benefits at the national
level, such as saving of foreign exchange, curbing en- Scale of technology
vironmental degradation overall health effects etc. are Some technologies may turn out to be inappropriate-
important, they are meaningful only if the new tech- economically or managementwise-if the proper scale is
nology is acceptable to the user. If the user does not not chosen. For example, in some situations many small
benefit, yet an invention needs to be promoted for solar pumps may be more expensive than a large
national or social benefits, the individual user has to be pumping station. Yet the small pumps may be preferable
compensated if he is to be induced to use it. This when the management problems associated with the
requires a national policy action where subsidy, financing different scales are considered. Again, giving an example
facilities, tax rates, etc. have to be introduced to promote of bio-gas technology, our earlier analysis[2] shows that
better technology. a community bio-gas plant may be more economical and
Thus, the cost-benefit analysis should be done also socially desirable than family bio-gas plants.
from the user's point of view along with the analysis
from the social viewpoint. One then identifies the loss. if Introducrion of technology
any, that the user has to incur and to what extent the The manner in which a technology is introduced
government might subsidize him judging from the in- determines its success. For example, adversely affected
direct costs the society has to bear if the new technology or less beneficiary groups may offer resistance. Besides,
is not promoted. at the planning state itself, problems of cooperation.
maintenance and repair would have to be foreseen.
Comparison with other alternatives
The economic benefits to the user should be calculated Compatibility with the environment
keeping in mind the best possible alternatives that a user If an invention requires a change in lifestyle or is in
has. For example, if the advantages of bio-gas plants are conflict with the surroundings, it will face difficulties in
calculated by taking kerosene or even coal as the alter- its adoption. In such a case, the strength of the existing
native, they would look substantial. But actually the establishment of older technology should be carefully
comparison has to be made with the cheapest possible assessed and whether or not the society is ready for the
alternative, i.e. burning dung and purchasing fertilizer, if change should be considered.
 Assessment of solar applications for transfer of technology 101

Acceptance of technology 3. SOLAR PUMP

An invention has to be appropriate for the kind of use Since many developing countries have shown interest
for which it is meant. For example, as will be demon- in solar pumps ihere is a need for a detailed analysis of
strated later in this paper, there is a need to consider the this application. For example, in countries like India.
manner in which a pump is presently utilized while Pakistan etc. development efforts are underway whereas
designing a solar pump for agricultural purposes. countries like Mali, Senegal, Niger, Mexico, etc. have
It is therefore necessary that a government with already installed solar pumps at very high cost.
limited resources should evaluate new technologies Solar pump for irrigational purposes would be a
carefully s o that only appropriate ideas are encouraged. significant application of solar energy for the developing
The development of inappropriate inventions may waste countries where 40-50 per cent of G N P originates from
precious scientific manpower and limited research funds the agricultural sector for which water is an essential
and also cause a loss in the credibility of new tech- input. Table I provides some relevant data for energized
nologies in general. Although these may appear to be a pump-sets and their electricity consumption in India.
matter of common sense, there have been many failures About 9 per cent of the total electricity consumption in
of new technologies due to neglect of simple practical India is accounted for by energized pump-sets alone [3]
considerations in the past. Therefore we attempt to inspite of the fact that hardly 20 per cent of the villages
analyze the difficulties of transfer of technology for one were electrified in 1967 as shown in Table 2. The number
of the applications of solar energy, within the context of of pumps required[4] in the next 2-3 decades can be
the above mentioned criteria. Although the general more than 10 million. Table 2 also shows [5] that the rate
framework of the analysis is applicable to anv country, a of electrification for small villages of 500 persons is
case study for India is carried out. much slower than the large towns. In view of the slow

Table 1 . Pumpsets and electrical energy consumption in Indiat

Energy Total electricity Consumption Consumption in kWh

No. of sets consumption consumption per pump set per kW of
Year in operation (lo9kWh) lo9k w h (kwh) connected load

1983 6.5 million

1990 12.0mil1ion.S
2000 20.0 billion

tRef. [3].
SRef. [4] p. 55. This projection takes into account the growth of population and the need for additional food
production and is compatible with the ground water potential of the country.

Table 2. Villages electrified in India

Population Number electrified as on
Range Total --
( 1 9 6 1 census) 31-3-61 31-3-66 31-3-71 31-3-72 31-3-73

Up to 4 9 9 351,653 3,986 10,265 31,518 39,730 46,665

5 0 0 to 9 9 9 119,086 4',306 9,787 26,436 32,602 37,880

1 0 p to 1999 65,377 5,918 11,567 25,715 27,971 31,586

2033 to 4999 26,565 5,1158 9,11111 17,036 18,326 19,922

YXX) to 9999 3,421 1,319 1,963 2,674 2,'753 2,913

1 0 3 J ) to absve 776 560 647 702 712 729

Total 566,878 21,547 43,679 104,091 122,094 139,695

Source: Ref. L51

electrification of the rural areas, the importance of the 3.3 The discounted costs for a period of service T
agriculture sector and the necessity of energy for The discounted cost of installing a capacity at the
pumping, solar pumps could be an extremely relevant initial period for any option would be
application.

3.1 Techno-economic considerations

The conditions for solar pumps to be acceptable would
be that they provide adequate pumped water, are Here
cheaper than the existing alternatives, or alternatively,
are more convenient so that farmers would be willing to
pay a higher price.
We shall develop a general framework for such a In order to compare solar and diesel engines they must
techno-economic comparison between any two alter- provide service over the same length of time T, since the
natives. The symbols being used in the calculations are lifetimes of both the options may be different. We
explained in Table 3. choose the time T such that

Table 3. Symbol definitions for techno-economic evaluation

Solar Electric Diesel Thus, if the lifetimes of the solar and diesel engines
Capital costs K, K, are 20 and 5 yr respectively, then one would require 4
Life time of the pump 1, 1, diesel engines over these 20 yr, requiring new investment
Number of pumps required n , n, every 5 yr which have to be discounted to the initial
for a period T of period.
service
Price of fuel per unit - pe
of fuel as a function (kwh)
of distance and time
Quantity of fuel required Sx365 'It

per year
Maintence costs m, me
Operation costs 0, 0,
Annual work done w, we
In general 0 = rn + p . q for a given option. The annual discount
rate d for all options. The subscripts are dropped during general
discussion of any engine. A general formula for discounting this over !he period
T is given below.
In the presence of electricity, the solar pump would
have to compete with electrical pumps and with the
diesel pumps in the absence of electricity.
As a pump in the range of 112 kW or kW could easily
On the other hand, without a storage capacity the solar
be replaced by animals or human power, a higher range
pump cannot be operated for the same hours as the
of 4 kW and above is considered.
diesel pump. In using the formula we have to take into
consideration the work that would be done by both these
3.2 Average annual costs per installed kW pumps in a day. For this we consider two cases:
We assume that the annual cost of the loans made to (a) The rate of pumping. In some areas the rate at
finance the installation would be equal to half the rate of which water recharges may be slow and therefore there
interest (discount) plust the operation costs. Neglecting may be an effective limit to the rate at which water can
inflation but considering depreciation, we get the foIlowing be pumped. In this case, we have to compare two pumps
equation of the same capacity. The fact that the solar pump can be
operated only for about 6 hr and the diesel pump for
18-20 hr make the two pumps non-comparable. In fact,
the solar pump without adequate storage may not be
considered a feasible option in this case.
(b) A comparison of equivalent work done. A solar
Somewhat similar expression has been already derived pump works with the average efficiency e, for h,
by A. Takla[6]. However, such an expression does not equivalent hours of full capacity where a solar radiation
consider the difference in the work that can be done s kWh/m2/day is available. The collector area required
because of the different availabilities at night of the two for the installed capacity c, is A.
alternatives being compared. Daily work done
Before we consider this problem, we writ8 an exact
formula for the discounted costs instead of the ap-
proximate form (1).
 Assessment of solar applications for transfer of technology

The diesel pump on the other hand can operate for a

much longer time, let us say hd hr. This may mean higher t-Solar rodlollon
Equlvalenl output at full capaclty
consumption of the fuel but better utilization of the
utput of solar engine
installed capacity, which is denoted by cd.
Daily work done
Noon
&rning Hours of day

Fig. 3. A schematic design of a solar pump.

in k w h .
We must have with other improvements in the design of the solar
engine and collectors.

4.2 Numerical values

Therefore T o be favourable to the solar pump, we assume that
electricity is not available in the region and the alter-
native is to use a diesel pump. Considering the data in
Table 1, it seems that on average, farmers' requirements
Here e, = e, . ep where e, and ep are the efficiencies of are met by a pump of 4 kW capacity which runs
the collectors and the pump respectively. 1000 kWh/yr. We compare a solar engine and a diesel
This concept is explained in Fig. 2. Equation (4) can engine to drive such a pump. The lifetimes I, and ld are
determine the value of c, for equivalent work as well as 20 and 5 yr respectively. The capital cost today is about
the necessary area of the collectors. Rs6,000 ($600) for a 4 kW diesel engine ( K d = $15O/kW).
We consider lubrication costs separately for a diesel
engine. Thus, the m, and md would be $50 each per yr.
The operation cost of a solar engine is only $50 per yr.
The diesel oil and lubricants consumed by a 4 kW diesel
pump for running 1000 hr would be 1 ton and 0.028 ton
per yr respectively. The costs of diesel and lubricant at
Exhaust market prices Pd and P,, are $150 and $20 respectively.
Therefore, using eqn (3) we get Od = $220. We consider
three scenarios, one with no escalation, and other two
with 5 and 10 per cent annual increase in the relative
fluld prices of diesel and lubricants. In the discounting pro-
Drive
cedure, costs are calculated a t constant (current) dollars
shaf& Belt
and only that price increase which is over and above
I rrlga tion
pump inflation is considered.
However, operating conditions in the field are such
that pumps have to run 18-20 hr, or even 24 hr. A diesel
engine can be run round the clock, whereas a solar
Fig. 2. Daily variation of radiation and output of solar and diesel engine without storage may run for 6-9 hr/day. Using
engines. eqns (8) and (9) the capacity of solar engine, c,, would
have to be 2-3 times that of the diesel engine depending
4. NUMERICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ALTERNATIVES on whether it runs for 6 or 9 hr. Therefore, we consider
Having developed a general framework for a techno- these two possible capacities with the three scenarios of
economic comparison. we compare the alternatives for a oil prices. Using eqn (5) for the discounted costs, we get
user. In doing so, one should consider uncertainties in the results which are summarized in Table 4.
various matters such as future improvements in the Part A in Table 4 shows the discounted costs for a
efficiencies and costs of solar pumps and escalation of 4 kW diesel engine and an equivalent solar engine under
diesel prices. etc. the various assumptions. The break-even costs of solar
engine required to d o the same amount of work has been
4.1 Present design and feasible technical improvements given in Part B. The break-even capital costs, k, per kW.
As we are concerned with a pump for agricultural vary from $233 to $590, depending on whether one
needs, we d o not consider low temperature pump requires three times larger solar pump or two times and
operating only on temperature differences as this tech- whether one considers 0, 5 or 10 per cent increase in oil
nology is not yet developed enough to give the required prices at constant dollars.
output but consider an engine driven pump as shown in The market price of a solar pump at present is 15-20
Fig. 3. thousand per kW. Based on our analysis a reduction in
If manual tracking system operating with concentra- price by a factor of 25-70 is required before a solar
tors utilizing Fresnel lenses are developed, which seems engine would be economically acceptable for driving an
to be a realizable goal, then an optimistic figure for the irrigation pump.
future efficiency could be taken to be 10 per cent along If the pump is only to be used for obtaining drinking
 JYOTI
K . PARIKH

Table 4. Comparison of costs of solar and diesel engines

- -

Solar Diesel engine (4 kW, 4000 kwrlyr)

Annual increase in relative price
of diesel
0% !?5 1 0%
- - - -

(a) Present discounted costs for

a 20 yr service period
(i) Costs of capital k, 1348 1348 1348
(ii) Operating costs incl. $425 1872 2543 3825
fuel lubricants and
maintenance
(iii) Total k , + $425 3220 3891 5173
(b) Break-even capital cost
of a solar engine
for irrigation (SlkW)
(i) Equivalent solar 349 433 593
capacity c , = 8 kW
(ii) Equivalent solar 233 289 395
capacity c, = 12 kW
(c) Break-even capital cost
of a solar engine for
pumping drinking water
(SlkW
Solar engine capacity 698 866 1186
same as diesel c, =
4kW

Assumptions: ( I ) Discount Rate = 10 per cent. (21Life time, solar 20 yr: diesel
5 yr. (3) Desel engine is 4 kW, runs 1000 hr per yr and during peak period is required to
run 18 hr. (4) Solar can operate 6-9 hr a day. (5) Diesel consumption is 0.250 I/kWh,
price is %150lton.( 6 ) Non-fuel operating costs are 6501yr for solar as well as diese!
Pump.

water, then it can be of the same capacity as the diesel are looking into a possibility of nation-wide adoption.
pump and may run 4-6 hr. This has been also compared the question of unavailability of diesel in the individual
in Part C of Table 4. This requires a reduction of price remote areas has not been considered. These areas might
by only a factor of 10-20. find solar pump to be useful in the near future, especially
for drinking water, as it may be the only feasible tech-
4.3 Validity of assumptions nology. However. we do consider an 8-fold increase in
Most of the assumptions made in the above analysis the diesel prices (10 per cent annual increase) over 20 yr
are quite generous to the solar engine as can be seen relative to other prices which are kept constant.
from thc following: However. if the solar pumps are manufactured in the
(a) Technical assumption. A solar engine with a developing countries, they could be cheaper than the
lifetime of 20 yr is not yet available. Besides. a solar current quotations. For example, the pump developed in
engine with twice as much capacity of the diesel engine the laboratory in India[7] has material cost of $1200/kW.
would also require a hydraulic purnp-which is driven by However, much progress is to be expected and it has to
the solar engine-f double the capacity as that used by be seen what the costs of a commercial solar pump
the diesel engine. This additional cost of hydraulic pump would be in the developing countries.
for ths solar engine is not considered in the calculation.
The present analysis assumes 6-8 working hr without 5. OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS OF SOLAR PUMPS
storage. So far. the working hours of a solar engine do Assuming that we have a solar pump which is of a
not exceed 8 hr with storage. The engine designed by the comparable cost to the other alternatives. what are the
National Physical Laboratory of India works 4 hr per other factors that need to be worried about? In the above
day with storage. Storage requires additional c o l l e ~ o r mentioned analysis. only the average solar radiation had
area as shown in eqn (6), the costs of which should also been considered for the sake of simplicity.
be included. Moreover. the requirement of water for the crops
If adequate storage were to be provided so that the follows a certain pattern while the demand for water
solar engine can be run for 18 hr, the capacity of the depends upon the crops and cropping pattern, the supply
solar engine need not be larger than that for the diesel would be determined by the arrival of the rains the depth
engine. The break-even cost of such a solar engine with of the water table and the rate of recharge. These are the
the costs of collectors and storage can be as high as most crucial factors which determine the acceptability of
$1 180 per kW. a pump.
(b) Economic assumptions. Although an electrical
pump provides a cheaper alternative, the cost 5.1 Climatic and local canations
comparison has been made with a diesel pump. Since we The intensity of solar radiation changes from month to
 Assessment of solar applications for tramfer df technology 105

Table 5 . Monthly variations of solar radiation and typical efficiencies in the two cities of India

Nagpur Jodhpur
Average Monthly Average Monthly
radiation Utilization availability radiation Utilization availability
Month Days cal/cm2/day efficiency cal/cm2 cal/cm2/day efficiency cal/cm'
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Total

Source: Columns 3. 4. 6 and 7 are from Ref. [8]

month. The efficiency of utilization depends on the in- grown under the shade and grow other crops in the
tensity of solar radiation, the temperature, the cloud remaining land.
cover, etc. In Table 5, monthly variations of solar radia- These and other factors which may be encountered in
tion, utilization efficiency (Ref. 181) and utilizable solar the field are summarized in Table 6.
energy are given for two places, namely Nagpur;
Madhya Pradesh (Central India) and Jodhpur which is in
the Western region near Rajastan Desert. Table 6. Factors to be considered while developing a solar pump
One can see that in Nagpur, the utilizable energy drops
a
by factor of 5 between the months May and August. In
- of land lhe
- Compatibility of possible peak load with the quantity of
fact, these are the months when water is required for water required, i.e. water pumped in comparison with its
cultivation. The reason why the solar radiation drops is .
reauirement over a dav.
~ ~~~

that it rains in this period. 1n case the rains get delayed - Maintenance:
and it is nonetheless cloudy, then the solar pump in- (i) availability of spare parts and necessary services.
(ii) availability of skills for repairs.
may not be unless the also - Adequacy of radiation and its availability especially during
collect diffused radiation and desired water is provided. cloudy days in the cropping season (seasonal and monfily
Thus the availability of water at a critical period, which fluctuations).
determines the success of a crop, is essential. - Compatability of water tablz with the possible capacity of
the presently available pump.
On the other hand, if the rate of water recharge is small, the
5.2 Pumping pattern pump would have to run at low speed but continuously.
In hot regions, some of the farmers may prefer to
pump during the evening or night time so as to save loss
of water due to evaporation. In such cases, storage may CONCLUSIONS
be essential. In view of the interest shown by many developing
countries in installing solar pumps which in the absence
5 . 3 Acailability of area in the farm for solar collectors of electricity or in anticipation of high diesel prices are
The collector area A per kW required for a pump claimed to be attractive there is a need to analyze this
capable to work h, kWh/day is given by eqn (9) which is application in detail. The performances of solar and
recasted below: diesel pumps or solar and diesel engines are viewed in
the background of the actual field conditions, namely:
(i) The rate of water recharge;
(ii) Equivalent work to be performed in a given
This could mean collector area of 100m2 for a 4 kW number of hours;
Pump. (iii) Climatic and local variations of solar radiation.
In the developing countries, farms are small in size and In spite of making generous assumptions about the
an average farmer may not be willing to allocate even a performance of a solar pump (such as 20 yr of life time
small portion of extra agricultural land for the collectors etc.) and hypothetical cases of 10 per cent annual in-
when it is in excess compared to the area required for crease in real price of diesel oil, the presently available
alternative pumps. If these collectors are to be placed solar pump does not compete with diesel engine and a
such that it obstructs sunlight for the other crop when it major break-through is required before it is economically
may not be preferred alternative unless the farmer is acceptable for irrigation. However, the pumps for
willing to grow certain types of vegetables which can be drinking water c o ~ ~ lbed of the same capacity as diesel
106 Assessment of solar applications for transfer of technology

pumps d u e t o the nature of operation (during the d a y ) in such applications a r e a s important a s material costs.
and could compete with the diesel pumps if the price is Therefore. the costs could be reduced if t h e applications
reduced by a factor of 10, charged currently for the a r e manufactured within the developing countries where
prototypes. labor costs a r e less. In a n y case. the solar energy could
It must be noted that although t o give concrete exam- not be a solution t o the question of import requirements
ples the numbers f o r India a r e taken f o r convenience, the for energy if t h e developing countries continue t o rely o n
issues raised in the analysis a r e valid f o r a n y developing outside help rather than develop the capability of in-
country. digenous manufacturing of solar applications.
The considerations discussed here apply t o most of the
"Iar be used for uses in view of Acknowledgrrnenls-Thanksare due to the Sudhakar Rae for
the high capital costs, where diesel engines with their low useful comments and to Lilo Roggenland for typing the manus-
capital cost and also low operational costs (due to oc- cript.
casional seasonal use) will be preferable.
Moreover, even when economic solar pumps a r e
REFERENCES
developed, other factors based o n climate geography,
I. United Nations, Selected World Demographic Indicators.
locale, social and institutional environment have t o be ESAIPIWP 55, Population Division. Dept. of Economic and
foreseen. Many of these a r e discussed a t length in t h e Social Affairs. New York (1975).
text. 2. J. K . Parikh and K. S. Parikh, The Potential of Bio-Gas Plants
T h u s the paper identifies the challenges that a r e ahead and How to Realize it. Pror. U N I T A R Symp. "Microbial
Energy Conr~crsion".Gottingen. F.R.G. (1976).
of the development of solar technologies which is in 3. Govt. of India. Ninth Annual Power Committee Repor?.
harmony with the field conditions. Ministry of Irrigation and Power. New Delhi (1972).
4. K . S. Parikh. Second India Studies: Energy. McMillan Press,
RECOMMEHDATIONS New Delhi (1976).
I t is recommended that during the development phases 5. Central Electricity Authority, Government of India, New
Nelhi ( 1974).
of solar applications f o r the developing countries, the 6. A. Takla. The Decelopment of Solar E n e r g Utilization in
actual field conditions ought t o be carefully taken into Developing Cortntries. UNIDOIIOD 59. Vienna (1976).
consideration and this could b e well accomplished only if 7. V. G. Bhide. Conversion of Solar Energy into Mechanical and
the scientists and expected users from the developing Electrical Energy. Report from National Physical Laboratory.
New Delhi (1976).
countries are involved in the development phase and that
8. G. A. Lof. J. A. Dufie and C. 0 . Smith. World D~striburionof
t h e priority shouId b e given t o nonseasonal applications. Solar Radiation. Solar Energy Laboratory. The University of
If produced in the developed countries, the labor costs Wisconsin (July. 1966).

Resumen-Para la poblacion rural grade y creciente en 10s paises en desarrollo. las aplicaciones solares descen-
tralizadas pueden ser apropiadas. Sin embargo, las nuevas tecnologias solares siguen desarrollandose actualmente
en laboratorio para llegar a ser aceptables a las condiciones de campo. Se discuten las condiciones que deben
reunirse antes que las aplicaciones Sean aceptables. Se examina la bomba solar dado el interes expresado por
muchos paises en desarrollo por esta aplicacion especifica. Se lleva a cab0 un analisis tecnoeconomico comparative
para bombas solares y diesel, el cual considera el aumento de precio del diesel y factores relacionados al clima.
geografia y ambiente social e institutional locales para dos tipos de uso: agua para bebida y para riego. Parece
imposible que la bomba solar compita conla diesel antes de que sus costos bejen en un factor de 20-50 para
prop6sitos de riego. Sin embargo para agua de bebida se requiere una reduction de costo en un factor menor a 10
sobre el cargado a 10s prototipos corrientemente. Aunque se toma el ejemplo especifico de la India. lo tratado es
extrapolable a la mayoria de 10s paises en desarrollo. Los puntos discutidos para el caso de la bomba solar son
apropiados tambien para otras aplicaciones solares estacionales ya que 10s costos de capital son grandes y operar
bombas diesel durante la estacion podria ser mas barato.

Resume-Les applications solaires, donc dicentralisees, devraient inttresser la population rurale importante et en
expansion des pays en voie de diveloppement. De plus, de nouvelles technologies diveloppies actuellement en
laboratorie devraient pouvoir, en fin de compte, itre acceptables dans ces conditions. On discute des conditions a
satisfaire avant que les applications solaires soient acceptables. On examine en detail le cas de la pompe solaire a
cause, en particulier, de I'interit exprime par de nopbreux pays en voie de developpement pour ce genre
d'applications. On en tire une analyse techno-Cconomique comparatives pour les pompes solaires at les pompes
diesel, analyse qui tient compte de I'augmentation du prix due fuel et de facteurs relatifs au climat, au site, aux
conditions locales et a I'environnement institutionnel pour deux types d'utilisations a savoir I'eau potable et I'eau
pour I'irrigation. II semble peu probable qu'une pompe solaire soit competitive avec une machine disel avant que
les prix n'aient baisse d'un facteur 20-50 pour les besoins de I'irrigation. Cependant, pour obtenir I'eau potable, la
diminution du prix necessaire doit etre dans un facteur infirieur a 10 au prix couramment impute pour les
prototypes. Bien que I'on prenne I'example particulier de I'Inde, ceci concerne la plupart des pays en voie de
developpement. Les resultats discutes dans le cas d'une pompe solaire concernent aussi les autres applications
solaires ayant seulement un but saisonnier puisque les capitaux sont Cleves et les pompes a fonctionnement diesel
pendant la saison seraient meilleur marchi.