Solar-powered water supply for rural and remote areas
Water pumping using solar energy presents the advantages since solar energy is available in most places; its investment cost is low and it requires a low maintenance cost. It has also added advantages of storing water to be used when the sun is not shining. In Africa, by comparing installation costs (including labor), fuel costs, and maintenance by using generators, you may find that solar is an economical choice and is a suitable solution for remote and isolated regions. A solar-powered pumping system is more reliable and requires less maintenance compared to the other sources used in pumping.
From borehole to tap, one system
A community water supply is a chain: the borehole or the river, a solar pump matched to the depth and the daily demand, an elevated tank, and gravity distribution to the water points. A level switch stops the pump when the tank is full; dry-running protection guards the well. Once sized correctly, the system runs itself, and the community owns its water instead of buying fuel for it.
Water at night, without batteries
The tank is the battery. Water pumped during sunshine hours feeds taps and standpipes all evening by gravity, at a fraction of the cost of electrical storage and with nothing to replace after a few years. In a documented installation in Terdjun, Indonesia, a single Grundfos SQFlex lifting from 40 m with a 900 W array delivers up to 5,000 litres per day to an overhead tank serving 18,000 people through community water points.
What solar water supply makes possible
The pattern repeats across rural Africa and beyond. Hand pumps that once served a queue of jerrycans give way to a solarised borehole, an elevated tank and a few tap stands, and fetching water stops being a half-day task. Schools and health posts get running water for sanitation, and villages that relied on trucked or hand-carried water move to safely managed supply at the tap.
The equipment side is deliberately unspectacular: a stainless steel submersible sized to the borehole, panels on a simple structure, storage for the night and level controls so the system runs itself. Pumps installed decades ago are still lifting water today; converted to solar, they do it without a fuel bill. Whole districts are now planning the move away from hand pumps as standard policy.
Plan it with us
NGOs, utilities and EPC contractors send us three numbers: total head, daily demand and location. Our team returns the sized system, from the SQFlex or SP with solar inverter down to cables and level switch, with a wholesale quote. The sizing guide explains what each number means, and the Grundfos solar water solutions guide maps the whole ecosystem.
An existing way of water pumping system uses the fuel to power generators, while this system provides power for pumping at any time. It presents the following constraints: Transportation of fuel to the location of generator sometimes is in inaccessible roads and landscape; fuel cost is also a challenging issue for this existing way of pumping and the generator requires an important regular maintenance.
Generally the system of water pumping by using the solar energy as a source of electricity to run the water pump is applicable in developing countries where the place become inaccessible (in remote areas) for supplying the electrical energy generated from different plants like hydro or thermo power plants.
SINES Export, specialist of the African continent offers a complete range of pumps and solar pumping solution. The quality of our services, our responsiveness and our desire to bring the best solution to the needs of the African continent makes us a reliable and efficient partner.
