Solar-powered water solutions for sustainable irrigation in rural communities

Most of the irrigation systems in many rural communities of Nigeria are powered by fossil fuels. Conversely, a solar water pumping system can sustain cost-effective operation and maintenance while significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions. This research aims to investigate and develop a photovoltaic water pumping system for sustainable irrigation in the Karshi community. The system was to draw water from a well with a dynamic level of 9.7 m and a total dynamic head (TDH) of 15.7 m at a flow rate of 2.4 m 3 /h. A power pump of 258 W was obtained from the pump performance curve, which was required to efficiently extract water from the well and discharge it to an overhead tank. The study then employs the HOMER software to evaluate the feasibility, performance, and economic viability of a solar-powered water pumping system in comparison to a conventional diesel-driven system. The results obtained clearly show that the designed solar water pumping system solution was able to produce the energy required for irrigation. This research also shows that solar water pumping technology can be depended on and is an economically viable alternative to diesel pumps for agricultural irrigation.