EVASOR, an Integrated Model to Manage Complex Irrigation Systems Energized by Photovoltaic Generators

The carbon footprint and energy cost of irrigation are increasing due to the modernization of irrigation systems, which also necessitates highly efficient use of water resources. Alternatives to conventional energy sources to power irrigation systems are renewable sources, primarily photovoltaic energy. Photovoltaic energy has the main disadvantage of producing a highly variable amount of energy, which affects the irrigation uniformity. Modeling irrigation systems in an integrated manner generates useful information about system performance for technicians that helps in the decision-making process. The EVASOR (EVAluation of SOlar iRrigation systems) model integrates different modules to simulate the whole solar irrigation system using a holistic approach: 1) I-Solar, which simulates the instantaneous power generated by the photovoltaic system, 2) AS-Solar, which simulates the variable speed pumping system, 3) Solar-Net, which simulates the hydraulic performance of the water distribution network, and 4) PRESUD-Irregular, which determines the discharge and pressure of all the emitters of the subunits together with irrigation quality parameters (coefficient of uniformity (CU), emission uniformity (EU), and coefficient of variation of the emitter discharge in the subunit (CVq) for any pressure at the subunit inlet. The integrated model EVASOR determines the irrigation quality parameters of complex irrigation systems with information on irradiance, air temperature, wind speed, and water table level for any combination of open subunits. To validate the model, results are presented regarding a case study located in southeast Spain.