Techno-economic study for photovoltaic battery-free irrigation systems in an arid area for olive fields in Western West Al Minya, Egypt

Abstract

Due to rain scarcity, artificial irrigation became an environmentally critical application for crop production. Proper irrigation is essential to maximize water use efficiency and plant biomass. Using clean energy sources is currently a trend that is sweeping the globe. To achieve this, we propose a solar-powered irrigation system. This study considers alternative irrigation systems using photovoltaic solar systems to pump water from deep wells for new land reclamation, whereas groundwater is the only source. The main objective is to evaluate various PV-powered pumping systems in Egypt's Western West Al Minya area. Two systems were nominated by considering the annual savings: the conventional irrigation Diesel system and a Photovoltaic (PV) battery-free irrigation system. The second system requires isolated pipes so solar radiation does not affect water temperature and avoids damage to plant roots. The 192 kW PV system was sized to operate a 60 KW water pumping system, with a required area of 1920 m2 for implementation. Direct irrigation using PV systems proved the best economical solution since it incurs the fewest costs of $0.015/m3 for 100–120 m well depth, compared with $0.073/m3 from the conventional system. As a result, the proposed PV-pumping system reduced the overall system cost by around 80% concerning the conventional system.