Renewable Energy Resources for Irrigation - Practices of Irrigation and On-farm Water Management - page 483

to alleviating poverty by providing energy for cooking, space heating, and light-
ing. Renewable energy can also contribute to education, by providing electricity to
schools.

13.3 Mode of Use of Renewable Energy

The main renewable energy technologies for irrigation water pumping are:
•

solar photovoltaic pump

•

windmill pump

• producer gas based dual fuel engine pump

• biogas-based dual fuel pump

• water energy through hydroelectric power plant

Renewable energy available at a specific site may be used at that site through
energy converting tools. For example, wind energy may be used to operate pumps
through wind mills, solar energy may be used through solar or photovoltaic cells (in
isolation from the national grid). Alternatively, generating electricity or biodiesel
with the renewable energy where it is available, integrating the generated electric-
ity through national grid, and then using the electricity (or biodiesel) to operate
irrigation pumps, and also for other purposes. For water energy (sea wave or water-
fall), geothermal, and bio-energy, integration is the only way to effective use of the
energies in irrigation pumping.

13.4 Application of Solar Energy for Pumping Irrigation Water

13.4.1 General Overview

Power sources (fuel and electricity) are one of the basic components of mechanized
irrigation equipment. The growing energy demand for expansion of irrigated agri-
culture has created the need to search and develop alternative energy sources, i.e.,
renewable energy sources. One of the renewable energy sources is solar energy. It is
nondepletable, site dependent, nonpolluting and its benefits are numerous in terms
of socio-economic, energy security, and environmental friendliness. Throughout
the world, there are pilot projects for irrigating crops by photovoltaic pumps and
generating electricity to add national grid.
Solar system does not require any kind of conventional fuels. This is a unique
advantage of this new technology because of a great relief in the situation of energy
crisis. Secondly, there is no moving part in this system (Fig. 13.1 ) , thus resulting into
quiet functioning leading to durability and soundless environment. With the growing
use of power-based equipment in irrigated agriculture, the demand of stable supply
of power has become more and more important for attainment of crop production.
Solar power can be a supplement of power supply in irrigation purpose.