The use of solar cell in ground water irrigation to support agricultural cultivation in rainfed field

Abstract

This research aims at developing the use of solar cell to water the ground water irrigation in order to support agricultural cultivation in rain-fed field. The location of this research was agricultural land (ricefield) in Singkarak village, X Koto Singkarak subdistrict, Solok district. This research was conducted with the design and technical test of ground water irrigation with solar cell, the analysis of irrigation water demand with crop-wat and the analysis of financial feasibility. The result of analysis showed that the potential of solar energy in Singkarak village could be used to activate the water pump of irrigation. The result of measurement showed that battery which its capacity was 12 V and 100 Ah needed four hours to be charged by five units of 50 Wp panel PV. Battery as the source of power was able to activate water pump of 125 Watt for 7,52 hours and mean debit that was able to be pumped is 17,45 litre/minute. From 24 periods of plantation time planned in rain-fed field, there were only three periods of plantation that the operational hours of their water pumps were able to be covered by the battery namely January 2, February 2, and November 2. Based on the result of financial analysis, these three periods of plantation were financially feasible in their implementation because the value of B/C ratio > 1 and NPV > 0.