Spain, with an average of 2,500 hours of sunshine per year, is one of the countries with the most hours of daylight per day. A privilege that more and more agricultural producers are taking advantage of by installing photovoltaic panels that use solar energy to irrigate their crops.
Relying on this type of solution entails a great economic saving and has many advantages, so it is not surprising to hear about more and more success stories, which serve as reference for professionals in the agricultural sector.
Javier, a young agricultural producer from Tomelloso, inherited his grandfather's vineyard farm and has now decided to invest in almond tree production with clean energy.
The farm has a pumped irrigation system powered with photovoltaic energy developed by the company Novagric which has replaced the old irrigation system that worked with a diesel engine. "Since we are starting from scratch, we opted for something much cleaner," says Javier.
The solar irrigation system installed by Novagric on the farm
Advantages of this irrigation system with solar panels
Irrigation systems powered by generators not only require a higher expenditure in diesel fuel, but also a lot of maintenance. Therefore, having this alternative not only reduces fossil fuel costs, but also those linked to the maintenance of the systems.
You need an initial investment for this kind of installation, but as Javier says, "with solar panels you spend money on the first year and then it gradually pays off." Since the initial costs are recovered in between 5 and 6 years, and solar panels work for a minimum of 25 years, you get almost 20 years free of costs."
Another advantage of having a solar irrigation system is its great autonomy. The hours of sunshine depend on the season of the year, and can reach up to eleven hours per day.
The installation carried out by Novagric includes the assembly of the panels that produce the energy, an electrical panel that transforms that energy, pumping equipment, an automation system, filtering equipment and fertilizing equipment.
It also offers the customer the convenience of remote control with the irrigation control app, which allows access from anywhere in the world.
More and more producers like Javier are making the leap to sustainable cultivation with clean energy to reduce costs and their carbon footprint.
For more information:
Novagric
novagric@novagric.com
www.novagric.com