Design and Development of a 100W, 12V DC Solar-Powered Multifunctional Mobile Sprayer for Agricultural Farms in Cansinala, Apalit, Pampanga

A considerable amount of farmers in the Philippines continue to independently use manual or fossil fuel based sprayers, being labor intensive, expensive, and harmful to the environment. A solar powered multifunction mobile agricultural sprayer was developed. This sprayer utilizes solar energy to help users produce some solutions to fossil fuel-based dependencies, reduced emissions and costs result in all lower operating costs. The sprayer is lightweight and uses a 3 wheel design, which allows users to better navigate uneven and diverse terrains. The single point of operations support of the sprayer and ease of setup allows an individual to be more productive and without support when managing the sprayer systems. Performance evaluations have also indicated that the solar powered sprayer would cover more area under less time, compared to a fully manual or fuel sprayer, which could be a viable operational feature for a farm of all sizes, particularly for farmers with an abundance of non-value generated labor. Although there may be a higher initial cost for the operation of this solar powered system, it could reduce what it cost to grow a food product, and represent 20 plus years of cost savings in labor, fuel, repairs and maintenance. Solar powered agricultural sprayers are minimizing some negative environmental impacts compared to fossil fuels, however its operational abilities demonstrating an awareness of renewable energy and its utility potential for agricultural use should distinguish this moveable mobile sprayer as a worldwide movement, improving productivity of farms, and allowing farmers to seriously engage as part of the global movement to reduce any harmful operating practices towards greener and more sustainable farming systems.