Energy and water management for drip-irrigation of tomatoes in a semi- arid district

Imene Yahyaoui, Fernando Tadeo and Marcello Vieira Segatto

Agricultural Water Management, 2017, vol. 183, issue C, 4-15

Abstract: In this research, an autonomous off-grid system for irrigation in semi- arid areas is presented and discussed. In these areas precise irrigation is essential: as they are characterized by availability of solar radiation, solar irrigation (supported by photovoltaic panels and batteries) is considered here. The correct operation of these installations is a necessity to ensure the correct crop irrigation and to extend the components lifetimes (batteries in particular). These objectives can be ensured by a management system that correctly handles energy and water requirements. In this research, the energy and water management for a photovoltaic water pumping installation used for irrigating tomatoes is developed by integrating fuzzy logic inside the control system. This management system first evaluates the water volume needed by tomatoes during the vegetative cycle considering a detailed model for the tomatoes evapotranspiration and irrigation frequency, following the site and crops characteristics. Based on this and the energy availability a control algorithm decides the switching of the relays which connect the main plant components (panels, batteries and water pumps). The control algorithm fulfills the objectives by considering criteria related to the water volume needed to irrigate the crops, to the safe operation of the batteries and the continuous operating of the pump. The algorithm is tested in two cases study: during normal operation and during faults related with water losses. The obtained results confirm that the irrigation demand is fulfilled, and autonomy is ensured during the vegetative season with a reduced use of the batteries.

Keywords: Water; Tomatoes irrigation; Photovoltaic energy; Fuzzy logic; Management; Water losses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377416302876
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:183:y:2017:i:c:p:4-15

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.08.003

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Water Management is currently edited by B.E. Clothier, W. Dierickx, J. Oster and D. Wichelns

More articles in Agricultural Water Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().