Typical solar-powered bucket irrigation system
when compared to the conventional energy sources. It does not exhaust natural resources and their
main advantage is, in most cases,
total absence of almost any air
emissions or waste products. In
other words, Solar Energy can be
considered as an almost absolute
clean and safe energy source.
Benefits of Solar-powered irrigation systems
Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems
provide significant environmental
benefits in comparison to the conventional energy sources, thus contributing, to the sustainable development of crop production activities for food security.
It provides the following benefits:
Low maintenance, long lasting
sources of energy;
Provides cost-effective power
supplies for people remote from
the main electricity grid;
Non-polluting and silent source
of electricity;
Convenient and flexible source
of small amounts of power;
Renewable and sustainable power, as a means to reduce global
warming;
Reduction of the emissions of
the greenhouse gases and prevention of toxic gas emissions;
Reclamation of degraded land;
Reduction of the required transmission lines of electricity grids
and
Improvement of the quality of
water resources.
Conclusion
Solar irrigation is becoming a viable
technology to address a range of
issues to name but a few:
The access to groundwater re-
sources for irrigation, especially
in arid and semi-arid areas;
The pressurization of water for
localised irrigation;
Provision of energy to remote
rural communities;
Solar irrigation is considered as
a new way for replacing the
conventional energy sources and
plays an important role to reduce the load on electricity.
Solar irrigation project is financially feasible but limited due to
its high initial cost and less operating time.
References
International Workshop: Prospects
for Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) in developing countries,
Food and Agricultural Organization,
Rome, Italy. 27-29 May 2015