Solar power helps agriculture save energy, cut costs and boost efficiency

Solar pumping systems keep crops lush and green

A drought that lasted more than a month recently pushed river and reservoir levels in many parts of Hainan close to historic lows, yet the 200 mu of mulberry trees in Yaying Village, Shilu Town, Changjiang County, are thriving and bright green, completely unaffected, all thanks to a solar smart pumping system newly installed before the Chinese New Year.

"On average, pumping one ton of water costs 2 mao in electricity, so pumping water with electric power is quite costly for farmers." Zhou Xuedong, chairman of Hainan Guangyuanlong Energy-Saving Technology Service Co., Ltd., believes Hainan has abundant sunlight resources and has the conditions, and should also encourage farmers to adopt solar and other energy-saving, cost-cutting pumping systems.

According to statistics, Hainan has more than 2000 hours of annual sunshine, with active accumulated temperature reaching 8400 to 9200 degrees Celsius; summers are hot and winters warm, with the hottest month averaging 25 to 29 degrees Celsius and the coldest month averaging more than 16 degrees Celsius.

How effective is solar pumping? Take the 200 mu mulberry field in Yaying Village, Shilu Town, Changjiang County, as an example: before the upgrade, the monthly electricity bill for pumping water was 6000 yuan. Although the upgrade required a one-time investment of 300,000 yuan, it can save at least 60,000 yuan in electricity costs in a single year, and the solar smart pumping system has a service life of 25 years. Considering the long term comprehensively, the energy savings, cost reductions and efficiency gains are obvious. In addition, the system's single-pump head reaches 300 to 400 m, making it very suitable for the sloping land of Hainan's central mountainous areas and able to save a great deal in line costs.

"The initial cost may seem high, but compared with products of equivalent performance from abroad, it is at least two times cheaper. Calculated on a one-time investment basis, diesel pumping costs 1.5 yuan per ton, while solar pumping costs only 0.2 yuan per ton." Zhou Xuedong analyzed that installing the solar smart pumping system can also reduce labor costs, as the system is fully intelligent and can be controlled remotely by mobile phone.

?New energy pumping for irrigation saves costs and boosts efficiency

Zuce Village, Liugong Township, Baoting County, Hainan Province, is located deep in the mountains, and the village often has no small amount of water. Recently, the township installed solar smart drinking water equipment and built a water tower. The system automatically pumps water when there is none and stops automatically when the tank is full. It can save 120,000 yuan a year in electricity, labor and maintenance costs. Zhou Xuedong said the system is simple and easy to learn to operate and requires almost no maintenance.

"To most people, solar panels are very susceptible to weather and can experience unstable output current, and this is also a problem we need to focus on solving." Zhou Xuedong said that Guangyuanlong's solar smart pumping system mainly solves the impact on the water pump after the current frequency drops precipitously due to weather, and through intelligent control of the solar panel's current output, it prevents the pump from suddenly stopping or starting.

Bai Renpu, a professor at Beijing Agricultural University, believes the solar pumping system is in line with the central government's direction of developing new energy; in addition, the system innovates pump technology and can lift water more than 300 m. In remote mountainous areas and hills where water and electricity are hard to reach, solar power can be used to lift water, achieving cost savings and efficiency gains and bringing farmers tangible benefits. (Deng Weizhe)

Author: Deng Weizhe Source: Agricultural Science and Technology News