Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 4203: Energy Consumption Optimization in Irrigation Networks Supplied by a Standalone Direct Pumping Photovoltaic System (Sustainability)

Due to the fact that irrigation networks are water and energy hungry and that both resources are scarce, many strategies have been developed to reduce this consumption. Solar energy sources have emerged as a green alternative with lower energy costs and, consequently, lower environmental impacts. In this work, a new methodology is proposed to select a scheduled program for irrigation which minimizes the number of photovoltaic solar panels to be installed and which better fits energy consumption (calculated for discrete potential combinations, assisted by programming software) to available energy obtained by panels without any power conditioning unit. Thus, the irrigation hours available to satisfy the water demands are limited by sunlight, the schedule type of irrigation has to be rigid (rotation predetermined), and the pressure at any node has to be above the minimum pressure required by standards. A case study was undertaken and, after running the software 105 times, the best result was an irrigation schedule which satisfied all the requirements, involving the installation of 651 solar panels and energy consumption of 428.74 kWh per day, to deliver water to orchards of different varieties of citrus fruit spread over 167.7 ha.