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Pump controllers

In PVsystBasic, the control device is the heart of a pumping system’s operation.

The PVsystBasic component, referred to for convenience as the “Pumping Controller,” combines several functions that may correspond to separate physical devices in the actual system:

  • It defines the system’s overall operating configuration and manages its specific parameters.
  • It enforces operational and safety limits, namely the absolute limits for power, voltage, and current, as well as shutdown when the reservoir is full or when the inlet water level drops below the suction port (to prevent dry running).
  • It may include a power converter (MPPT or fixed-voltage DC-DC, with DC or AC output depending on the pump device). When there are multiple pumps, there is generally one power converter per pump, but in some cases a single converter may suffice.

Note

When the PVsystBasic pump device is configured with its own power converter, the simulation will, of course, use the parameters of the pump’s power conditioning unit.

Universal Controller

When beginning the analysis of a pumping system, the choice of operating strategy is, of course, fundamental, but the details of the control are not yet relevant. This is why, as with standalone systems, PVsystBasic provides a default universal controller for each configuration strategy.

The secondary parameters of these controllers are set to optimal values based on the system definition (this is done just before the simulation process). However, for each configuration, certain operating values depend on fundamental user choices and constitute an essential part of the system definition parameters. These include, for example, the irradiance thresholds for cascading pumps or reconfiguring the PV array, adjusting the input voltage of DC-DC converters, etc.

Real-World and Commercial Control Devices

In reality, not all functions of the “Controller” component in PVsystBasic are always combined into a single commercial device. Therefore, for your final simulations using real components, you will likely need to define your own “Pump Controller” device, specific to your project. This device can incorporate the characteristics of one or more commercial components (for example, an existing control device + an existing power converter), as well as certain parameters specific to your project (for example, irradiance thresholds).

Note

A specific control device—as well as a power converter when necessary—is often offered by pump manufacturers for each of their products. However, these devices sometimes include “switchable” options, which requires defining several corresponding components in the PVsystBasic database.