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Environmental and Social Issues to which Fuji Electric Contributes
Solar Pump Inverters for a Rural Area in India Contributing to Agricultural Development by Utilizing Solar Power Without Waste
Key points of this article
Solar pump inverters that utilize maximum solar power
(Top) A FRENIC-Ace inverter housed in a control panel
(Bottom) Solar panels and a control panel
(Bottom) Solar panels and a control panel
In this rural area of India, groundwater is pumped up and used for farmland. As the country’s power grids are insufficient, progress is being made with solar power facilities, and there are more and more cases where solar power is used to drive these pumps. In such cases, the motors of the pumps are controlled using solar pump inverters.
Since the solar panel output fluctuates depending on the weather and temperature, Fuji Electric uses MPPT control technology for its inverters. This technology, which the company has cultivated through the design and development of power conditioning systems (PCS), maximizes the amount of power generated by finding the maximum output point of solar cells. Fuji Electric has been marketing the FRENIC-Mini, one of its low-capacity inverters, as a target model for solar pumps in the Indian market since 2016, and recently, due to the need to increase the water supply, there are growing needs for larger capacity pumps. In April 2022, Fuji Electric added a larger capacity model, the FRENIC-Ace, to its lineup. Now, in order to quickly reflect local market needs in its products, the company has transferred some of the design functions that were previously handled in Japan (at its Suzuka Factory) to Fuji Electric India Private Limited in Chennai, Tamilnadu, where local staff can customize products based on customer requirements.
Expanding business in India where demand is growing
Fishing grounds in rural areas also use solar pumps to pump up groundwater.
The Indian government is taking measures like promoting the deployment of about two million agricultural irrigation solar pumps by the end of 2022 in order to accomplish its vision for economic growth, and demand for solar pump inverters is expected to increase as well. In August 2022, Fuji Electric India delivered solar pump inverters to a rural farming area in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This supports the use of solar power in the region.
"Unlike inverters for factories and infrastructure facilities, inverters for solar pumps are not installed in environments where they can be repaired quickly if they should break down," says Managing Director Yosuke Ishizaka. "Given this, these products must be sturdy and as resistant to problems as possible. FEI’s inverters are widely regarded as high quality and safe to use, and they are becoming the de facto standard for solar pump inverters in India." Fuji Electric and Fuji Electric India will further promote and expand the use of these products to contribute to the development of agriculture in India.
Contributing to SDGs
Contributing to the development of agriculture in India
Fuji Electric offers PCSs and storage cell systems for renewable energy applications. Solar pump inverters that utilize the technologies cultivated through these power generation products and systems will encourage the use of solar power in India and contribute to the SDGs’ Goal 7 “Affordable and clean energy” and Goal 9 “Industry, innovation and infrastructure,” which are priority goals for the company. It also supports the popularization of solar pumps and contributes to Goal 6 “Clean water and sanitation.”