How Solar PV could reduce your irrigation costs

The majority of irrigation generally takes place in the summer when the solar day is long, with solar power capable of being generated from 8am right up to 7pm. Daytime irrigation, as well as any power intensive process that requires a large amount of daytime power can benefit from solar PV generation. This is true also for processes that see a substantial increase in consumed power during the summer months and processes such as cold storage, deployments of electrically powered machinery and product drying.

We have used actual consumption data from an irrigation site in Norfolk to illustrate the potential payback of using solar PV generation. This site’s consumption data shows that the bulk of the pumping at this site happens during solar generation hours.

For the payback calculation, we have made the following assumptions for this calculation:

day rate electricity price – 15.5p per unit (kWh)

night rate electricity price – 10.5p per unit (kWh)

agreed PPA export rate of 5.5p per kWh

energy price inflation rate of 4.2%, (figure taken from the DBEIS and is based upon the average non domestic electricity price rises)

PV array generates 65% of the daytime consumption of the site.

Taking into account an allowance for annual maintenance costs, these figures demonstrate that not only could this installation reduce spend on energy costs, it could also be used as an income generating investment over its lifetime.