From next year, 20% of the energy consumed in the European Union must be of renewable origin, a factor that will definitely affect the agricultural sector. This is why Grupo Chamartín sees solar photovoltaic irrigation as a powerful ally for irrigated agriculture.
Betting on renewable energies is already an obligation in all production systems (automotive, industry, tourism...) and agriculture should not be left behind in this new paradigm, especially if we take into account that the highest energy consumption in our sector is in irrigated agriculture. Irrigated agriculture is more productive and has led the Spanish agricultural sector to become a reference at European and world level: Spain has achieved that 70% of the total of 3.4 million hectares are operated with a drip and sprinkler irrigation system, which is much more efficient.
Drip and sprinklerirrigation has allowed growers to have a more precise control of their water consumption and to save water, which is scarce in some areas or, in others, difficult to exploit because it is in subway aquifers. On the other hand, in recent years, due to constant increases in electricity rates, their energy bills have risen considerably.
That is why a new impulse is needed, which will come from the use of renewable energies. Specifically, we are talking about photovoltaic solar energy.
This type of irrigation is based on the use of an unlimited resource, solar radiation, to generate energy that will be used to power the pumping and electrical systems of the farm's irrigation system.
In summary, a photovoltaic solar energy installation is composed of:
The advantages of these irrigation systems are remarkable and, most importantly, appreciable in the short term. For this reason, more and more companies have opted for photovoltaic solar energy as an alternative or complementary system to the electrical grid, to supply energy to pumping systems and the irrigation network.
These installations make it possible to isolate the farm from the general power grid, thus becoming self-sufficient in energy consumption. This reduces the farm's electricity bill and increases the farmer's profitability. These systems can also be applied in isolated areas with poor access to the electricity grid, thus allowing the development of these marginal areas and fixing the population in rural areas.
In addition, due to the installation of monitoring systems, greater efficiency in the use of water is achieved, since not only is it possible to have almost total control of the irrigation system from mobile devices, but also access to a history of usage and expenditure data. If we add ICT technologies to these systems, which adjust the availability of electricity to the irrigation needs, we have a perfect combination that considerably increases efficiency. In addition, the photovoltaic panels generate enough electrical energy to supply the different motors and electrical elements of the irrigation network (pivots, monitoring systems, sensors, etc.).
All this translates into a significant improvement in the farm's sustainability, reducing its water and environmental footprint, aligning it with the new objectives of the EU's agricultural policy and meeting the demands of an increasingly environmentally conscious consumer.