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WorldWater Develops 1.2 MW Project for Solar Powered Pumping System

August 31, 2007 | 1 Comment

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Pennington, New Jersey [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp. has confirmed it will build a photovoltaic (PV) system up to 1.2 Megawatts (MW) to provide electricity and water pumping power for the Valley Center Municipal Water District (VCMWD) of Valley Center, California.

"Our Board's vote for this project was enthusiastic and unanimous. Throughout the process, all involved recognized the importance of securing clean, reliable, cost effective electric energy to meet our commitment to our customers and community... We are very excited and anxious to keep the project moving forward and bring it online as soon as possible."

-- Gary Arant, General Manager, VCMWD

The system will be owned by Solar Power Partners of Mill Valley, California, which will operate it for VCMWD under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The actual size of the system will be determined by the results of environmental and site engineering work. VCMWD is the second largest water provider in San Diego County behind the City of San Diego.

The system will use WorldWater's proprietary AquaMax™ drives to provide pumping power for drinking water and irrigation. The system is capable of powering electric pumps up to 1,000 horsepower and operates automatically in combination with grid, battery and diesel power.

Gary Arant, General Manager of VCMWD, commented, "Our Board's vote for this project was enthusiastic and unanimous. Throughout the process, all involved recognized the importance of securing clean, reliable, cost effective electric energy to meet our commitment to our customers and community... We are very excited and anxious to keep the project moving forward and bring it online as soon as possible."

In 2006, WorldWater worked with VCMWD's Board of Directors on a project feasibility study and later procured rebates on their behalf from the California Public Utility Commission through the California Solar Initiative Program. WorldWater will engineer, supply and construct the system, and will maintain it for Solar Power Partners. The planned site is near VCMWD's Betsworth pumping station in Valley Center.

Pending environmental study approvals and final engineering, construction will start this year with completion scheduled for May 2008.

Solar Energy

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hussain-alrobaei-50048

September 5, 2007

Solar electricity and water pumping is a great match. Normally the sun is shining the most hours per day when water is needed the most. This matching of performance with need is a major reason for the economic advantage of solar pumping. Pumping water with solar electricity is rapidly becoming the first choice in many locations where conventional utility-provided power is not readily available or feasible. Applications for solar water pumps are diverse and include stock and game watering from bore holes, rivers and dams. However, the main applications of photovoltaic pumping are rural irrigation and water supply for rural communities, and other isolated sites, in particular in developing countries. Compared to the cost of extending power lines to a remote site, solar is an obvious option and can complement cattle watering or irrigation, since the supply of sunshine coincides with the demand forwater. The hot sunny days, when solar power is in greatest supply, are the same days when the demand for water is highest. On rainy overcast days, the demand for water is reduced or eliminated (in the case of irrigation). Currently, grid connected photovoltaic powered and wind powered reverse osmosis desalination plant and water pumping system are considered the most promising alternatives [1,2]. [1] Hussain Alrobaei, 2004 , The Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Systems for Desalination and Water pumping/ The 5th JORDANIAN Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Conference JMIEC 04, Amman – Jordan, 24 : 26 April , 2004.[2] Hussain Alrobaei, 2006 , Grid Connected Renewable Energy Fired Reverse  Osmosis Desalination Plants/ The Energy Central Network/ energycentral.com/centers/knowledge/whitepapers.

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