NRHF Solar Watering System

Team Members: Colby Dechiara, Riley Finn, Kathryn Sledd, Suraye Solis
Academic Advisor: Dr. Gene Yagow, Industry Advisor: Dr. Sharyl Ogle

Background Approach Proposed Design

Table 3. Design proposal 1 using 3/4 pipe.
NRHF Team assisted by NRCS and SWCD personnel and Number of Items
equipment
Component Descriptions North South
Obtained relative elevations
System System
Completed plan view of waterline
Survey Calculated existing pipe length and additional pipe length
Pipe PVC SCHEDULE 40 3/4 x 20 0 23
Conducted needed Standard Float Valve Min. psi=10, Max. psi=80 1 4
Low Pressure Float Valve Minimum goes below 10 psi 2 0
Fig. 1. New River Hill Farm, Grayson County, Virginia Design Proposal 1:use existing pipeline SCH 40 PVC , Pump 4 pump & motor, 5 GPM 1 1
additional pipeline diameter =
The New River Hill Farm (NRHF) requires a new watering system for Solar Array 285 W each, 65.9" x 39.4" 4 4
Developed Design Proposal 2:use SCH 40 PVC 1-1/4 to replace Will start pump at 95V, continue
the cattle and greenhouse in order to continue the mission of Design
existing pipeline & new additions Controller 1 1
operation down to 75V
providing a hands-on, agricultural education experience for youth in Proposals Wells remain connected & provide
Backup 1 1
Southwestern Virginia Obtained Total Dynamic Head (TDH) for SCH 40 PVC 1-1/4 water at low solar irradiation
and SCH 40 PVC 3/4 Table 4. Design proposal 2 using 1-1/4 pipe.
Calculated pipe length necessary for each pipeline Number of Items
Completed Calculated static pressure (psi) and maximum flow rate Component Descriptions North South
Calculations (gpm) at each watering facility for both pipe diameters System System
Pipe PVC SCHEDULE 40 1-1/4 x 20 114 129
Standard Float Valve Min. psi=10, Max. psi=80 1 4
Fig. 5. Approach taken to developing design solutions. Low Pressure Float Valve Minimum goes below 10 psi 2 0
Pump 4 pump & motor, 5 GPM 1 1
Results Solar Array 285 W each, 65.9" x 39.4"
Will start pump at 95V, continue
4 4
Controller 1 1
Fig. 5. Plan view of waterline operation down to 75V
Fig. 2. Livestock at NRHF. Fig. 3. Greenhouse (left), Shed 1 (right), and
Shed 2 (background) at NRHF. of North Watering System at Wells remain connected & provide
Backup 1 1
NRHF showing elevation of water at low solar irradiation

Goals & Objectives pump, reservoir, and

watering facilities.
Pros Pros
1
Goal - Requires less - Meets peak
pipes demand at all
watering
To design an implementable water distribution system for the New facilities
Cons
River Hill Farm that sustainably meets the farm's peak and daily - Peak demand not met at Cons
demand non-storage troughs - Needs more pipe
- Older pipes, may require length and
servicing associated trench
Choose suitable Perform cost Figure 8. Comparison of design proposal 1 and 2.
Determine Conduct survey
Create pipeline Select pump and solar Finalize analysis

Cost Analysis
Energy
layout Components equipment Design Make operation
Requirement Determine
Complete & maintenance
calculations backup system suggestions
Table 5. Itemized cost for design proposal 1. Table 6. Itemized cost for design proposal 2.
Pump System Pump System
Item Item
Fig. 4. Objectives (circled) and tasks (arrows) performed to achieve project goal. North South North South
Pump $450 $450 Pump $450 $450

Constraints & Criteria Solar Array $2884.62 $2884.62

Solar Mount $194.39 $194.39
Solar Array $2884.62
Solar Mount $194.39
$2884.62
$194.39
Controller $745 $745 Controller $745 $745
Constraints Fig. 6. Plan view of waterline of Pipe $0 $105.60 Pipe $1188.55 $1342.29
Use of solar power in design South Watering System at NRHF Pipe Fittings $425.10 $510.36 Pipe Fittings $425.10 $510.36
showing elevation of pump, Backup $0 $0 Backup $0 $0
Source water must come from two ponds on site reservoir, and watering facility. Total $4699.11 $4889.92 Total $5887.66 $6126.66
Criteria

Daily demand for livestock: 750 gpd (2840 L/d)

Daily demand for greenhouse: 53 gpd (200 L/d)
Table 1. Length of pipe required and TDH of 1-1/4 and 3/4 PVC

SCH 40 PVC
Watering System Acknowledgements
North South The NRHF Team would like to thank our advisors, Dr. Gene Yagow (Virginia Tech) and Dr. Sharyl
Peak demand for livestock: 8 gpm (30 L/min) Length (ft) 2256 2558 Ogle (NRCS-USDA), as well as Dr. John Ignosh (Virginia Tech), Dr. Cully Hession (Virginia Tech), Tim
1-1/4
Vertical lift: 122 ft (north system), 102 ft (south system) TDH (ft) 125 106 Phipps (New River SWCD, NRHF), and Qualla Ketchum (Virginia Tech) for their continuous time,
*Additional* Length (ft) 0 460 advice, support, and feedback throughout the fulfillment of this project. The team also would like to
thank all others who provided any form of assistance, no matter how small, which aided the
TDH (ft) 156 140

Standards
completion of NRHF Solar Watering System.

References
Table 2. Watering facilities of concern
Number of Watering Facilities of Concern
NRCS VA CPS 516- Livestock Pipeline North Watering System South Watering System 1. Morales, T.D., Busch, J. (2010). Design of small photovoltaic(PV) solar-powered water pump
NRCS VA CPS 533- Pumping Plant systems. NRCS Technical Note, 28. 1-71
# < peak flow 11 21
NRCS VA CPS 614- Watering Facility # < minimum float 2. Munir, A., Al-Karaghouli, A. A., Al-Douri, A. A. J. (2007). A PV pumping station for drinking water
02 22
NRCS VA CPS 716- Renewable Energy System valve static pressure
in a remote residential complex. Desalination. 209(1), 58-63
1
For pipe diameter only
3. NRCS National Engineering Handbook, Section 5
2
For 1-1/4 and pipe diameters 4. NRCS VA CPS 614- Watering Facility