Location: North Africa
Capacity/Flow: 3,300m³/day
Solar Installation: 525 × 200 Wp 105 kWp
Lorentz Solar Pump: PS21k CS-F85-20
Land Size: 50 hectares
Solar Water Pumping for Center Pivot Irrigation North Africa
Problem
In a desert in Africa, a large pivot system with a radius of 479 meters is used to irrigate 50 hectares of desert. The fuel costs of operating this system are very high and increasing. The irrigation system is needed to use otherwise dead land for agricultural purpose. Water is being supplied through an artifi cial canal from the Nile. At this point, Alfalfa is grown as feeding hay and harvested eleven times each year with the harvest season exceeding 300 days. Until 2013, a 135 kW diesel generator ran 22 hours per day to power the system.Diesel is priced at USD 0.45. In 2013, the local government temporarily scaled back fuel subsidies resulting in significantly higher prices for petrol, diesel and liquefi ed petroleum gas. Increasing fuel prices, supply diffi culties and uncertainty of future developments meant an alternative power source had to be found in this off-grid area.
Solution
Following effi ciency and feasibility analysis, AE Photonics Maroc designed and installed a solar powered system using LORENTZ pumps to replace the diesel powered generator and AC pumps. The pivot speed is automatically controlled proportional to water fl ow. Also, all motors required to move the pivot now are solar powered. In eleven hours the pivot completes one 360 degree turn, providing the required 3,300 m3 of water per day for partial irrigation. At startup, the PV array located at the center of the system can be cleaned by the pivot itself. This not only means no longer relying on fuel and being independent from future reductions in subsidies, but also greatly reduced carbon emissions.