Water Pumps that run using Solar Energy can be beneficial to villages/remote locations in India (and elsewhere), mainly for two reasons:
- Water is required for anyone living anywhere and people walk for a long distance (often to locations outside their villages) or use manual pumps to get water. Both are labor and time intensive activities.
- Electricity, which is required to pump water from underground is not available in many places and even if available, with all the power-cuts and low-voltage problems, it is practically useless.
But there is one thing that is available in abundance in all the villages/remote locations: The Energy of the Sun.
Solar Panels convert this abundantly available energy into electricity that can power Water Pumps. This system is called a Solar Pump. Solar energy can be stored in batteries and hence, the water pumps powered by them can function even during the nights/cloudy days. Some pumps can be powered using not only solar panels, but also by wind turbines and solar-wind hybrid systems.
The above embedded video shows how installing SQ Flex solar pump system from Grundfos helped one village to get regular water-supply, with minimum efforts/manual labor. As the villagers say in the video, the time and efforts saved can be put to use for some other productive/revenue generating activities.
It may not be possible for each house in the village to buy such solar pumps, but communities or villages can buy and set-up a common solar pump that can serve the needs of many families.
Solar panels have a long life (about 20-25 years) and there is not much maintenance. If batteries are used, they need frequent replacement (like once in every 4-5 years). Technical expertise may not be required to use/run this system, but access to qualified technicians if something goes wrong with the pump/solar system, will be useful.
