1Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Uttar Pradesh
*Corresponding author email id: mandastsh@gmail.com
Irrigation is one of the major consumers of electricity that is supplied mostly from conventional electricity sources across the globe. However, these sources of electricity generation are depleting fast and causing environmental pollution. Renewable energy sources are sustainable and eco- friendly alternatives, and solar photovoltaic (PV) is the most attractive among them. To get the wider acceptance of solar power in the field of agriculture, the scientific information regarding the technical performance and economical viability of solar photovoltaic (SPV) operated irrigation system has great importance. In this study, the techno-economic evaluation of SPV operated submersible pump and drip irrigation system is investigated. The experiment has been conducted during Rabi season for varying solar irradiance and temperature conditions at IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. The effect of solar irradiance on drip irrigation was analyzed and found that maximum emission uniformity for the system is achieved during 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM of about 94 per cent. The LCC analysis shows that the SPV system is preferable than DG set. The payback period for SPV and DG set is found as 2.5 years and 4.5 years respectively.
Drip irrigation, Life cycle cost, Solar PV pumping, Uniformity coefficient
