Ag Pump AMI Analytics PowWow Study

This report presents the findings of technical assessment of PumpMonitorTM (PM), a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product by PowWow Energy (PWE). This product is designed to provide data and analytics for pumping systems in the agriculture sector. The assessment was performed by field deployment of this product across several agriculture pumping systems. Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Emerging Products (EP) group is responsible for this project. Solaris Technical, LLC an energy efficiency consulting firm, was commissioned to perform this assessment. Project Goal The goals of this assessment are to: Verify that the PM software accurately calculates energy and water use.  Research and discuss how PM facilitates the farmers to perform Behavioral, Retro-commissioning, Operational (BRO) interventions using the text alerts and email notifications from PM.   Technology Description PowWow Energy (PWE) created a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product called Pump-MonitorTM (PM) that leverages existing energy data and patented machine learning algorithms to calculate pump water use and pump alerts. PM utilizes Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) data via Green Button and pump operation data from Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) pump test measurements to provide continuous feedback to the customer on the pump operating conditions and facilitate efficient and easier way to manage their water and energy use. Leveraging the AMI and pump efficiency test data, PM uses proprietary algorithms to estimate the water flow from the pump and can send messages/alerts to the farmer regarding their water and energy usage. As farmers respond to these alerts and perform necessary interventions, it results in water and energy savings.  The software does not require any new hardware installation and can integrate data from existing Smart Meters at the pump location or other telemetry systems on the farm. There is an annual subscription fee to license the software. Project Findings To meet the project goals, PM was installed at several facilities in Southern California that are a good representation of agriculture operations in this this territory. The installations include:   103 Pumps (well, booster and surface lift pumps) Combined nameplate 7,230 HP 7,000 acres of field area Pumps covering Tulare Basin, Ventura and Los Angeles basin Various crop types: almonds, pistachios, walnuts, avocado, alfalfa and citrus Various irrigation systems: drip, flood, micro-sprinkler, and sub-drip   Based on the analysis of the data gathered from the study it can be concluded that The error of the water and energy measurements by PM do not exceed 10% when the pumping system is within the scope set by PM. PM provides text alerts and email notifications to the farming staff, which provide information to facilitate necessary interventions to improve energy efficiency.     The following are some of the instances where the customers enrolled in this study implemented necessary interventions using the messages from PM. One of the farmers switched operations from a less efficient well pump to more efficient well pumps based on PM alert about the risk of pump cavitation resulting from a falling water level. This caused the pump to operate inefficiently and ultimately to fail. This is a behavioral change in the way the farm uses its pumps. PM was instrumental to a farm working with an SCE pump tester and a local representative from Resource Conservation District (RCD) to identify that the pump was oversized for its operations and could be resized for higher efficiency. The farmer was using a pressure reducing valve to drop the discharge pressure from 80 psi (lower water flow) to the required 40 psi. PowWow was used to recommend downsizing the pump and verify its correct implementation. This is an operational change with a new water flow and pressure design point to maintain higher energy efficiency. PM alerted a farmer about sudden drops in energy usage when the energy usage was expected to be steady. Based on PM alerts the farmer identified that the VFD at the pump site was overheating and was not operating as expected due to sun exposure mid-day. The customer built a shade so the VFD could run again at its designed operating condition. Project Recommendations Since PM measurements for flow and energy are within 10% of actual measurements, the PM could be used for reliable water reporting when the pumping configurations meet the PM published requirements and data required by PM is available.   PM also provides useful alerts about the pumping operations which could be used by the farmer to implement necessary interventions to improve energy efficiency.   The database of information available on PM could be leveraged to enhance existing utility pumping programs through targeted pump testing on high savings potential pumps to improve implementation of other deemed energy efficiency measures (pump retrofit or VFD installation). Additionally, coupling PM with other products such as PowWow’s CropMonitorTM could be used to address energy efficiency in a holistic approach by incorporating other factors such as plant evapotranspiration, imagery, farm sensors, irrigation schedule etc.