Abstract

MOSSANDE, Anaclides Rogério et al. Drip irrigation system with solar energy for tomato in Cavaco, Benguela, Angola. Rev Cie Téc Agr [online]. 2015, vol.24, n.2, pp. 11-17. ISSN 2071-0054.

Food security depends on improving irrigation for small farmers who grow half the world’s agricultural area, but the improvement of the efficiency of water management is needed through photovoltaic (FV) drip irrigation in small surfaces. Considering the availability of solar radiation and the lack of conventional sources of electricity in the Republic of Angola, the design of an Photovoltaic drip irrigation is justified for tomato production in the valley of Cavaco, Angola, in an experimental area of 0.23 ha, where the estimation of the solar radiation on a horizontal plane and the inclination of the FV panel was made with the models of Hottel and SOLENER. The irrigation system was designed to high water demand of the crop by the methods of autonomous systems and solar power irrigation. The results indicate that the use of a dropper of 3.5 L•s-1 permits 2.49 watering times in each subunit. Mathematical models estimated global radiation values between 6 448.32 and 8 320.81 W•m-2•day-1 on a horizontal surface and between 6 775 and 8 710 W•m-2•day-1 on the surface of the panel tilted at 15°. The FV system consists of an array of 6 photovoltaic panels that generates a peak power of 1 814.39 Wp, sufficient to ensure the functioning of the selected pump.

Keywords : photovoltaic pumping; solar power irrigation; modeling of radiation.

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