Optimizing the use of solar energy in irrigation communities

Irrigation faces the problem of constructing its exercise extra sustainable, each environmentally and economically. On this context, power self-sufficiency is proposed as a path to observe for the agriculture of the longer term.

The Decrease Guadalquivir Valley Irrigation Group, overlaying virtually 19,000 hectares and with greater than 2,000 irrigators, started self-supplying by photo voltaic power in 2019 by the set up of a 6-megawatt photovoltaic plant, the most important of all irrigation systems in Spain. This has made it a trailblazer and testing floor obtainable to the scientific group as efforts are being made to shift in direction of an environmentally and economically sustainable irrigation mannequin.

The newest instance is its shut collaboration with the María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence’s Hydraulics and Irrigation analysis group, in affiliation with the College of Cordoba’s Division of Agronomy (DAUCO), which has proposed completely different methods to maximise using the photo voltaic power it produces, stop the excess from being misplaced, and scale back dependence on exterior power sources.

The researchers accountable for the research, Maaike van de Bathroom, Emilio Camacho and Juan Antonio Rodríguez, clarify that extra photo voltaic power is at the moment produced than is used, producing a surplus of round 50%, whereas a secondary supply is important to fulfill power wants when photo voltaic power will not be being produced; at night time, for instance.

To resolve this case, two potential options have been studied that might contribute to lowering the quantity of power misplaced and optimizing its use, concepts having been published within the journal Renewable Power.

The primary one proposes a change in growers’ habits, adjusting irrigation schedules to coincide with the daytime hours when photo voltaic power is produced, and avoiding nighttime irrigation. This method, the analysis workforce explains, represents a paradigm shift since historically the Decrease Valley Group had opted for irrigation at night time because of the benefits it entailed: cheaper power charges and milder temperatures, which scale back water evaporation ranges.

Nonetheless, the drop in power prices because of the development of the photovoltaic plant, and the enlargement of drip irrigation, which reduces water consumption by as much as 60% in comparison with different typical strategies (by permitting for extra exact utility, thereby minimizing losses) signifies that irrigators have motive to vary their routines.

The technique that the analysis group proposes is to desert on-demand irrigation (24 hours of water availability) and focus its use in an area 8 to 12 hours, when there may be sunshine, which might considerably enhance the prepared provide of photovoltaic power, above 90%.

The researchers make clear that, even when this mannequin is applied, it might at all times be essential to have a further power supply to complement photo voltaic attributable to its dependence on climate and environmental situations. Nonetheless, in a area like Andalusia, with greater than 3,000 hours of sunshine per 12 months, the technique would considerably scale back dependence on exterior sources and contribute to a extra sustainable irrigation mannequin, each economically and environmentally.

The second state of affairs is financial and consists of promoting surplus power, one thing that the Decrease Valley Group has been doing because the plant’s set up. A rise in photo voltaic energy manufacturing on the nationwide and European ranges, nevertheless, has led to decrease costs, which reduces its profitability.

The research concludes that, so far, there is no such thing as a answer that ensures 100% exploitation of solar energyalthough it constitutes a useful useful resource. Nonetheless, the researchers are assured that analysis like this, along with the expertise of the Decrease Valley Irrigation Group, can pave the way in which for the irrigation of the longer term, one able to combining environmental safety with financial profitability by taking full benefit of the territory’s potential.