The smarter e-India: Hub for the new energy world

The year 2019 will mark Intersolar India’s entry into ‘The smarter E India’
Virendra Bagde, Senior Manager Sales – Solar Vertical, Factory Automation & Industrial Division, Mitsubishi Electric India Private Limited

Virendra Bagde, Senior Manager Sales – Solar Vertical, Factory Automation & Industrial Division, Mitsubishi Electric India Private Limited in an interaction with Zaid Lakdawala discusses their participation in Intersolar 2018 and futuristic product which will transforms the industry and it’s majorly focus on the interaction of the solar, energy storage and electric mobility.

Brief about Mitsubishi Electric participation in Inter Solar Exhibition 2018?
Mitsubishi Electric India’s, Factory Automation & Industrial Division (FAID) participated at Intersolar 2018. On display was our solar solution, operated by our reliable controller and SCADA Field Monitoring System. The highlights of the expo was solution for efficient pumping, tracking, monitoring, and energy analysis for farm and industry applications. This was illustrated effectively though live poster demonstrations.

In addition to this, the factory automation and low voltage switchgear range of products along with newly launched product – Modular I/O, was displayed using a demo kit. At Mitsubishi Electric, we are always committed to green energy. That’s why we responsibly take measures to reduce the production of greenhouse gases such as CO2. As Intersolar India is all about clean energy, we participated here to showcase our solar products and the entire range of factory automation products.

What are your views on switching from convention to innovation?
Today, in a country like India, the other conventional methods of irrigation, excluding rain are run by thermal power, but its supply is not so regular in rural areas. And, the second option is the diesel pump which is a bit expensive due to the rising prices of fossil fuels. Currently, statistics show that 18 million pumps are connected with grid power with further 7 million running on diesel. Hereby, the two common options of irrigation; electric pumps and diesel pumps are associated with some limitations, which restrict small farmers to think about them. However, it is expected that by the year 2020-21, a minimum of 1 million solar driven pumps will be functioning in the country for irrigations and water drinking purpose. Solar, is the most feasible form of energy in countries like India which receive sunlight throughout the year because of their proximity to the equator.

What are the key features of Mitsubishi Electric’s solar pump controller?
The solar pump controller has some advanced built-in features including MPPT ((Maximum Power Point Tracking) /optimised output frequency control, automatic restart function, dry-run detection, flow rate monitor, remote monitoring function and capacity to work on solar and grid supply. The dry-run detection function helps prevent the motor from remaining rotating without enough water flow or with a blockage in the pump. It also comes with a power failure stop function where the DC bus minimum voltage is reduced to avoid under voltage tripping and to maximise output delivery from morning to evening. The automatic operation function enables VFDs to operate automatically without turning on its switch. Through the flow rate monitor, it is possible to monitor flow rate via an operation panel with suitable parameter setting or Modbus communication.

Apart from the above features, our controller has many safety features like over voltage, under voltage, short circuit protection and reverse polarity too.

What are the Benefits of solar pumps?
Increasing access to solar energy has brought-in changes to almost every sphere of life in rural India, and farmers are its biggest beneficiaries due to better irrigation facilities. Also, solar power irrigation offers low-carbon irrigated agriculture which is rather friendly to the environment and its inhabitants in comparison to electric and diesel pumps. And, to promote green energy, the Government of India is offering subsidy for solar technologies and making sincere efforts in bringing the per unit price to the lowest level. That’s why solar power irrigation is becoming a viable option for both large and small-scale farmers as it is effective in reducing energy cost for irrigation. Consequently, the utilisation of solar power irrigation leads to optimisation of other agricultural resources as well.

Mitsubishi Electric has developed solar power operated pump controller which converts the DC power to drive the AC induction motor of a water pump and control its function. It currently offers E12 series of drives. The controller has more efficiency, is compact in size, easy to maintain, has simple operational functions and has built-in application-specific dedicated features. Its operation capacity ranges from 3 HP to 10 HP with FR-D 700 and FR-E 700 series. MEI also offers up to 60 HP with its FR- A800 series of drives.

The controller has some advanced built-in features including MPPT/Optimised output frequency control, automatic restart function, dry-run detection, flow rate monitor, remote monitoring function and capacity to work on Solar and Grid supply. The dry-run detection function helps prevent the motor from remaining rotating without enough water flow or with a blockage in the pump. It also comes with a power failure stop function where the DC bus minimum voltage is reduced to avoid under voltage tripping and to maximise output delivery from morning to evening. The Automatic Operation Function enables VFDs to operate automatically without turning on its switch. Through the Flow Rate Monitor, it is possible to monitor flow rate via an operation panel with suitable parameter setting or Modbus communication.

What are your expectations from Intersolar India 2019? What products are you focusing to launch at Intersolar 2019?
The energy world is changing in the wake of decarbonisation, digitalisation and many such game-changing innovations. The year 2019 will mark Intersolar India’s entry into ‘The smarter E India’ – India’s innovation hub for the new energy world, majorly focusing on the interaction of the solar, energy storage and electric mobility.

Today, we are witnessing a massive shift in consumers’ energy consumption pattern and they are moving fast from ‘just energy consuming’ to ‘more energy saving’. We believe Intersolar India 2019 will present many new innovative solutions backed by photovoltaics and wind power to the emerging and on-going energy challenges faced by India.