Computer-assisted sizing of photovoltaic systems for drip irrigation of olive orchards in semi-arid climate

One of the most promising applications of photovoltaic solar power, especially in areas which have high levels of solar radiation, is for pumping the water needed to irrigate the existing crops. However, it is absolutely necessary to accurately dimension the installations due to the high prices of photon capture devices. In this paper, a simple method, implemented in a spreadsheet, to calculate the design requirements of a photovoltaic system to power the drip irrigation of a field is proposed. The methodology is based on the link between the existing photovoltaic pumping techniques and the procedure to determine the crop water requirements. In the case study, 10 ha of olive grove, a photovoltaic field with 18 solar panels for 1.43 kWp is required. Besides the advantages for the environment, since it uses a renewable energy, a study on the economic viability of a photovoltaic system shows that it is similar to conventional systems which use a generator unit (twice the net present value for the photovoltaic system). Moreover, the high price of fossil fuels guarantees a progressive advantage of photovoltaic systems.