Speaker
Description
Photovoltaic water pumping systems (PVWPS) provide a sustainable solution for irrigation in off grid and water scarce environments, yet their effectiveness is limited by the lack of integrated, physics based monitoring capable of resolving the coupled dynamics of photovoltaic energy conversion and water transport. Existing approaches often treat electrical and hydraulic subsystems independently and rely on empirical indicators, resulting in limited real time diagnostics and suboptimal system performance. This study presents a physics informed cyber physical monitoring framework that explicitly links solid state photovoltaic behaviour, electromagnetic power conversion, and fluid mechanical water dynamics through first principles models and distributed sensing. Key variables including solar irradiance, photovoltaic voltage and current, hydraulic pressure, water level, flow rate, soil moisture, and temperature, are measured using low power ESP32 based sensor nodes and transmitted via Bluetooth Low Energy and WiFi to an LTE gateway for cloud based analytics.
Photovoltaic performance is characterised using temperature- and irradiance-dependent electrical models, while water dynamics are described using conservation laws, hydrostatic pressure relations, and hydraulic power balance. A four week case study on an off grid agricultural PVWPS recorded irradiance levels of 250–950 W m⁻², PV efficiencies of 13–17%, and flow rates of 18–42 L min⁻¹. The system achieved data latency below 5 s, power consumption below 200 mW, and enabled detection of pumping efficiency deviations within 10–15% of nominal operation, improving overall performance assessment by approximately 25%. The results demonstrate that physics informed monitoring enables reliable real time diagnostics and intelligent control, highlighting the central role of applied physics in advancing resilient, sustainable irrigation systems.
| Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission | Yes, I ACCEPT |
|---|