Design and Development of Solar-Wind Hybrid Powered Drip Irrigation Systems
Syamsul Bahri (a), Cut Mulyani (a), Suheri (b), T. Azuar Rizal (b), Hamdani (c*)
(a) Agrotechnology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Samudra, Kota Langsa, 24416 Indonesia
(b) Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Samudra, Kota Langsa, 24416 Indonesia
(c) Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
(*) hamdani[at]unsyiah.ac.id
Abstract
In the dry season, water supply for agriculture is minimal. Farmers usually use fresh water from a local well to irrigate agricultural areas. Farmers who have relatively adequate capital, irrigate their agricultural areas using high-energy pumping systems to maintain the quality and amount of their farming products. However, in line with the increasing price of energy in the market, the pumping system - which is commonly carried out on remote agricultural areas that are relatively far from the electricity network - has caused a significant increase in the cost of fuel oil. Therefore efforts to utilize renewable energy available in such agricultural areas need to be encouraged. In this study, the design, the installation, and testing of the performance of the Solar-Wind Hybrid Power Plant (S/W-HPP) have been carried out. This system consists of a 100 WP solar power plant, and a 500-watt wind-turbine power plant module as the primary energy source for drip irrigation pumps in an area of 1,000 m2 of food crops. Performance testing of the S/W-HPP system is carried out by proffering the submersible pump a workload at a flow capacity of 60 litres/minute with 60 watts of electric power. The results from field test performance, then, compared with the simulation results. The final analysis will provide fundamental information in the design of the S/W-HPP generating system in drip irrigation applications.
Keywords: Hybrid energy, solar energy, wind energy, water pumps, agricultural areas
Topic: Mechanical Engineering