Sun shining down
a solar-powered pump has been developed in the uk which is simple and economical. The pump's solar panel captures the Sunlight that can provide sufficient energy to pump up to 4546 litres of water a day under average tropical conditions from depths of up to eight metres, according to a British science journal.
The technique, described by its inventor as "the epitome of minimalist engineering', is one of those decidedly simple ideas where the heat from the Sun is used to generate electricity using the solar panels.
The panel, two square metres in area, contains hexane which is alternately heated past its boiling point by the Sun so as to be converted into gas and then cooled by the water being pumped. Gaseous hexane has a greater volume than in its liquid state and this alternate heating and cooling pulses a diaphragm that, in turn, pumps water out of a borewell or river.
After extensive laboratory trials in the uk , using artificial heat, the pump has recently undergone field trials in Jamaica. The pump can be very useful in what is known as the Sunshine belt