Solar for Irrigation

Agrivoltaic systems are a strategic and innovative approach to combine solar photovoltaic (PV)-based renewable energy generation with agricultural production. Recognizing the fundamental importance of farmer adoption in the successful diffusion of the agrivoltaic innovation, this study investigates agriculture sector experts' perceptions on the opportunities and barriers to dual land-use systems. Using in-depth, semistructured interviews, this study conducts a first study to identify challenges to farmer adoption of agrivoltaics and address them by responding to societal concerns. Results indicate that participants see potential benefits for themselves in combined solar and agriculture technology. The identified barriers to adoption of agrivoltaics, however, include: (i) desired certainty of long-term land productivity, (ii) market potential, (iii) just compensation and (iv) a need for predesigned system flexibility to accommodate different scales, types of operations, and changing farming practices. The identified concerns in this study can be used to refine the technology to increase adoption among farmers and to translate the potential of agrivoltaics to address the competition for land between solar PV and agriculture into changes in solar siting, farming practice, and land-use decision-making.

Two field experiments were carried out in El-Bosaily farm in the Northern coast of Egypt
during 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 seasons to study the response of the faba bean (Vicia faba L.,)
Sakha 3 cultivar to five different sowing dates (1st of October, mid of October and 1st of November,
mid of November and 1st of December) and three applied irrigation levels 0.60, 0.80 and 1.00 of IR
which applied by drip irrigation system. Plant height, leaf area index, total plant dry weight, biological
and seed yields, seed carbohydrate and protein contents as well as water use efficiency were
determined.
The results were as follows:
Vegetative growth traits as well as biological and seed yield of faba bean values were decreased as
sowing date delayed beyond the 1st of November. Meanwhile application of 0.60 of (IR) irrigation
treatments led to decline vegetative growth traits as well as biological and seed yield. Nevertheless,
the 1.00 irrigation treatments gave the highest grain yield. The final results showed that the 0.60
irrigation level gave the highest water use efficiency (WUE). Increasing irrigation water above
0.60 led to decrease in values of water use efficiency. Meanwhile, the highest water use efficiency
was obtained from the third sowing date (1st November) followed by second sowing date (mid.
October) while the lowest WUE value was obtained by the fifth sowing date (1st December).
Finally, the highest value of protein and carbohydrate contents in the faba bean seeds were obtained
by the lowest irrigation level (0.60IR) combined with the third sowing date (1st November).

The Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FSPV) system is an emerging solar PV installation, gaining traction primarily due to its distinct advantages over other forms of installations. FSPV mainly solves the problem when land area is scarce and the power plant capacity is on the megawatt (MW) scale. This paper investigates the resource potential of FSPV, specifically in Lake Mainit, Caraga Region, Philippines. This study implemented a descriptive research design to identify the resources needed to implement an FSPV system in the said lake. The Lake Mainit area can generate 762.96MWh per year. Accounting for the needs of the community, the resources needed to put up the FSPV should satisfy the 35,640Whr daily energy requirement of the community. Based on the analysis, the computed FSPV system size is 9.90kWp. The components required to implement an Artificial Intelligence (AI) integrated monitoring and data processing system for fault diagnosis and detection to help mitigate impact to the FSPV system with the undesirable weather conditions were also identified.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of applying different irrigation levels and soil mulches on vegetative growth, yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) valor cultivar. The experiment was carried out during two successive seasons of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 under open field conditions in El-Bossily farm, Agricultural Research Center, El-Beheira Governorate, Egypt. The experimental design was split plot and consisted of three irrigation levels as main plots and three soil mulches as sub-plots with three replicates. Drip irrigation was practiced at 50, 75 and 100% of irrigation requirements (IR). The soil mulches consisted of black (PE-B) and transparent (PET) polyethylene as well as rice straw (RS). In both seasons, the application of different irrigation levels and mulch treatments affected significantly potato vegetative growth, tuber yield and nutrients content (N, P and K). The use of PE-B mulch resulted in significantly higher values of plant height, number of leaves, canopy fresh and dry weight per potato plant. Increasing IR of potato from 50% to 100% enhanced total and marketable yield. The highest WUE was obtained under PE-B mulch followed by RS and both of them were superior compared to the PET and bare soil. Regarding the interaction between irrigation and mulching treatments, the highest vegetative and tuber yield were obtained by PE-B treatment combined with 100% IR. However, the highest WUE was obtained by 75% IR combined with PE-B mulch.

In order to optimize the usage of water in agriculture, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of irrigation systems, especially those of surface irrigation. One of the steps to be made to achieve this goal is the optimal design of surface irrigation. It this article the design variables of furrow irrigation, that includes length of furrow, inflow rate and irrigation time (time of cutoff), were calculated to minimize the irrigation costs, the objective function, and to obtain a maximum application efficiency. The objective function encompasses water, labor, head ditch and furrow digging (ditch constructions) costs. Labor cost is irrigation time's function and the latter is dependent on water advance period in the furrows. Therefore, it is necessary for the objective function to apply explicit and accurate equation in order to calculate time of advance. Because in none of the accurate methods for furrow irrigation design, such as zero-inertia modeling, the advance time is explicitly calculated, therefore in this research the equation obtained by Valiantzas, which he extracted from the results of zero-inertia modeling, was used. In the objective function in addition to the design variables the specifications of soil, furrow and net irrigation requirement also exist. Therefore, it is possible to calculate design variables and afterwards the irrigation efficiency for different soil types and plant types. In this article this task was performed with different soil types and in accordance with different requirements for irrigation and the results are presented in the tables.

Abstract— For optimal design and management of
hydrologic balance and scheduling irrigation models, the
need to measure Evapotranspiration is of great
importance. It helps in predicting when and how much
water is required for any particular irrigation scheme.
Reference Evapotranspiration is a standard nomenclature
defined by FAO to provide a reference frame although it
is not a full proof equation. Several scientists have
developed multiple equations based of three primary
directions viz. temperature based methods, radiation
based methods and mass – transfer methods. Here in this
paper, we have carried out a review on most of the
popular equations and the objective is to elucidate the
advantages and drawbacks each one of them register
when put into use. The reference equation for
standardization considered here is FAO 56 Penman
Montheith equation. Thirty other equations from the
three schools have been analysed here. Statistical
Regression Analysis methods and coefficient of
determination (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and
index of agreement (d) are the analytical parameters
those are to be used while estimating their acceptance in
evaluating the throughputs.

Bangladesh has a primarily agrarian economy. Irrigation plays a very important role in our agriculture as well as on economy. During dry season, irrigation of the whole country faces an acute crisis due to load shedding of 1400 MW [1]. As Bangladesh has good solar resources, with high availability during the peak irrigation season, therefore, solar pumping of water for irrigation is an innovative and environment-friendly solution for its largely agro-based economy. Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) is providing financial support to solar irrigation. Already 450 irrigation pumps have been installed by IDCOL in different divisions of Bangladesh. In this paper, 450 project's data has been analyzed and the findings are shown by different graphs. Different division's radiation, water-head and required water are mainly focused in the analysis which will be very useful for upcoming irrigation projects. To accomplish the analysis on solar irrigation, several field visits were done at Poradaho, Kushtia, Bangladesh. This is a project of Bright Green Energy Foundation (BGEF) and financed by IDCOL. Numerous important prospects of solar irrigation besides Diesel-based Irrigation in Bangladesh have come out from this comparative study.

Constant increase in the number of people in the world today imposes the need for constant increase in food yield on the one side and energy on the other. The presented survey compiles two technological processes that use solar energy for their functioning. These are solar panels that produce electricity and agricultural production (seen through the irrigation process) which develops herbal mass (weight) by the means of photosynthesis. The aim of the research was to investigate the validity of applying solar energy in irrigation of perennial plants in fruit growing in the Republic of Serbia. This paper will explore the energy obtained from solar panels for irrigation purposes for the period (April-October) in which the requirements of plants for water are the highest. The justification for the application of solar energy in irrigation of perennial plants is compared, with the prices of diesel fuel and electricity from the network.

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Using solar equations in an electronic circuit for solar tracking is quite simple, even if you are a novice, but mathematical solar equations are over complicated by academic experts and professors in text-books, journal articles and internet websites. In terms of solar hobbies, scholars, students and Hobbyist's looking at solar tracking electronics or PC programs for solar tracking are usually overcome by the sheer volume of scientific material and internet resources, which leaves many developers in frustration when search for simple experimental solar tracking source-code for their on-axis sun-tracking systems. This booklet will simplify the search for the mystical sun tracking formulas for your sun tracker innovation and help you develop your own autonomous solar tracking controller.

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Many solar tracker applications cover a wide spectrum of solar energy and concentrated solar devices, including solar power generation, solar desalination, solar water purification, solar steam generation, solar electricity generation, solar industrial process heat, solar thermal heat storage, solar food dryers, hydrogen production from methane or producing hydrogen and oxygen from water (HHO). Many patented or non-patented solar apparatus include tracking in solar apparatus for solar electric generator, solar desalinator, solar steam engine, solar ice maker, solar water purifier, solar cooling, solar refrigeration, USB solar charger, solar phone charging, portable solar charging tracker, solar cooking or solar dying means. Your project may be the next breakthrough or patent, but your invention is held back by frustration in search for the sun tracker you require for your solar powered appliance, solar generator, solar tracker robot, solar freezer, solar cooker, solar drier, solar freezer, or solar dryer project. Whether your solar electronic circuit diagram include a simplified solar controller design in a solar electricity project, solar power kit, solar hobby kit, solar steam generator, solar hot water system, solar ice maker, solar desalinator, hobbyist solar panels, hobby robot, or if you are developing professional or hobby electronics for a solar utility or micro scale solar powerplant for your own solar farm or solar farming, this publication may help accelerate the development of your solar tracking innovation.