Variable Speed Drives
Grid Tied
Solar Assist Pump
Motor Control
Solutions
by Irri-Gator Products
I
rri-Gator Products is well known to the industry
as an innovative, dynamic and forward thinking
company that specializes in irrigation system
automation and controls.
During early 2016 Irri-Gator was
approached by Ren Energy to
provide input on the design and
supply of a Solar Photovoltaic
(PV) pump control system for
Just Trees, located between
Paarl and Wellington in the
Western Cape. Each of the
companies are specialists in their
respective fields with Ren Energy
specializing in engineered Solar
PV solutions while Irri-Gator
20
specializes in advanced motor
control applications. This joint
venture made perfect synergy as
an optimal design solution was
presented to the client, approved,
successfully
installed
and
commissioned in early June 2016.
Background
The farm makes use of 2 separate
irrigation systems. System one
SABI | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016
makes use of 2 x 22kW pumps that
operate in parallel. The second
system makes use of a single
30kW pump. Although unlikely, it
is a possibility that the two systems
operating simultaneously could
absorb up to 74kW of power at
peak utilization. The project’s
main objective was to optimize the
utilization of power and be less
reliant on power from the Eskom
grid, to attain maximum savings.
The irrigation system on the farm
is unconventional as they are
“farming” an unusual “crop”.
Just Trees is a wholesale nursery
growing and supplying large trees
in bags (40 – 1 000 litre bags)
for the landscape industry. The
bags are filled with a growing
medium which does not have
much of a water holding capacity.
The irrigation water is enriched
with fertiliser and supplied to
each container via the dripper
irrigation network.
With batches of trees being
removed from the growing plots,
as and when they are sold,
irrigation lines are isolated which
causes a constant variance in flowrates within the irrigation system
therefore affecting the hydraulics
and making this a difficult system
to manage while trying to achieve