Techno-economic analysis and performance improvement in solar pump system for irrigation in India
Student name: Mr Deepan Prakash D
Guide: Mr N S Prasad
Year of completion: 2015
Host Organisation: Enzen Global Solutions Pvt., Ltd
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Uma Rajarathnam
Abstract: Farmland degradation is considered as one of the worst environmental and economic
threats for India. The degradation process negatively affects food and water security,
economy, society and climate changes. Solar Photovoltaic water pumping (SPVWP)
technology for irrigation is an innovative and sustainable solution to curb the agricultural
land degradation. At the same time it can promote the conservation of farmland, especially
in remote areas of India. The combination of SPVWP technology with water saving
irrigation techniques and sustainable management of the groundwater resources can lead
to several benefits. These include enhancing farmland productivity, halting wind and
rainfall erosion, providing higher incomes and better living conditions for farmers. This
M.Tech thesis aims to bridge the current knowledge gaps, optimize system implementation
and prevent system failures. This work represents thus a step forward to solve the current
and future nexus between energy, water and food security in India, using SPVWP
technology for irrigation. Models for the dynamic simulations of SPVWP systems, irrigation
water requirements (IWR) and crop response to water have been presented and integrated.
Field measurements and surveys at a pilot SPVWP system in Chitradurga district of
Karnataka state have been conducted to analyze the reliability of the models adopted. A
revision of the traditional design approaches and a new optimization procedure have been
proposed to guarantee the match between IWR and water supply, to minimize the system
failures and to maximize crop productivity and thus the SPVWP system profitability and
effectiveness. Several economic analyses have been conducted to establish the most cost
effective solution for irrigation and to evaluate the project profitability. The possible
benefits generated by the SPVWP system implementation have been highlighted, as well as
the effects of the most sensitive parameters, such as forage price and incentives. The results
show that SPVWP system represents the best technical and economic solution to provide
water for irrigation in the remote areas compared to other traditional water pumping
technologies. The environmental benefits have been also addressed, evaluating the CO2
emissions saving achievable from the SPVWP system operation. The assessment of the
feasible and optimal areas for implementing SPVWP systems in India has been conducted
using spatial analysis and an optimization tool for the entire supply chain of forage
production. The results show that the potentials of SPVWP systems in India are large.
Nevertheless, the feasible and optimal locations are extremely sensitive to several
environmental and economic parameters such as forage IWR, groundwater depth, and CO2
credits that need to be carefully taken into account in the planning process. Although this
M.Tech thesis has used Chitradurga district of Karnataka state as case study, SPVWP
technology can be applied for irrigation purposes all over the world both for off- and ongrid
applications leading to several economic and environmental benefits.
