Development and Application of a Solar-Powered Timer Pump for Irrigation Purpose
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frequent power outages and expensive electricity bills in developing countries have driven the development of alternative solutions to electricity from the grid to power pumps for irrigation purposes. In line with this, the study aims to design, construct, fabricate and test a solar powdered timer pump for irrigation that successfully mitigates the concerns of unreliable power supply, inefficient water management, over-irrigation, and raised operational expenses in agricultural activities. The system was developed by designing the various components through design calculations of the pump, solar panel, inverter, charge controller, microcontroller, moisture sensor, sprinkler, and various pipe connections. After designing, the fully assembled system was tested under controlled field conditions. The system was programmed to activate the pump at predetermined times and operate in short cycles typically 4-second intervals until the soil moisture sensor indicated that the desired moisture level had been reached. The soil moisture levels varied from 0 to 150 cl and the corresponding pumping duration was determined. The results revealed that when the level of moisture in the soil was high (1400%) compared to when 10 cl of water was added, there was a 100% reduction in the pumping duration to 0 s. As the percentage amount of water increased from 10 cl, there was a corresponding percentage increase in the duration of pumping. However, at a very high percentage increase of about 1150%, the corresponding level of percentage increase in pumping duration was reduced due to high levels of moisture content in the soil. This study demonstrates that the integration of solar energy with automated control systems can successfully resolve the issues associated with traditional irrigation methods.
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