Abstract

The use of photovoltaic (PV) energy in irrigation is increasing its relevance as energy source in irrigated agriculture. The main reason relays on its economic and environmental benefits, compared to traditional options. To reduce economic, materials and energy requirements of PV irrigation systems, its design and dimensioning should be optimal. In this work, we developed the model MOPISS (Model for Optimal Photovoltaic Irrigation System Sizing) focussed on the selection of pipe diameters and PV plant dimensioning, optimizing jointly the investment cost and operation of the system. MOPISS, developed in MATLAB (TM), integrated a customized version of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) with two objective functions, aimed at searching the optimal sizing of the irrigation network and PV plant. The results showed a series of solutions with optimal hydrants grouping in sectors, pipe diameters and PV plant size. MOPISS was applied to a real case study obtaining solutions which satisfied 96 % of the irrigation requirements while saved cost between 22.9 and 38.2 % over the total investment cost, compared with the original design. MOPISS is a useful tool to produce optimal designs of sizing new PV irrigation system under a comprehensive approach that considers crop, water and energy availability and network layout.