Using Solar Power To Save Farmland Waterways

 

Any farmer with a creek running through his or her property knows just how valuable it is. However, livestock can pollute these vital liquid lifelines and cause severe erosion to the banks of waterways.
   
Dick Lester, owner of Spring Valley Ranch in Cherokee County in Iowa, has used a solar powered water pumping system to help rehabilitate a creek running through his farm. He says vegetation quickly returned to the creek's banks since installing the new solar watering system.
   
Water is delivered from the creek through a pea gravel trench, buried 5 metres underground, to a helical rotary pump. Eight 175-watt solar panels power the pump, sending water through over 1 kilometre of pipe to three water tanks situated up to 50 metres above the pump.
   
Water levels in the tanks signal the pump to add water when there is demand. A valve opens, and the pressure tank supplies water until the pressure is gone. The system then pumps nine gallons of water per minute up the hill until the tank shuts off. 
   
Lester's system requires no deep cycle batteries as the storage tanks act as the battery. While solar panels produce less power on heavily overcast days; on those days, livestock water requirements also decreases. The tanks are big enough that cattle have reserve water for nights and cloudy days.
   
The environmental and productivity benefits don't stop with the creek. The placement of the watering tanks also allows for better pasture management as the cattle are no longer congregated around the waterway. Cattle are able to take advantage of more feed while ensuring severe damage isn't occurring to small areas - lessening the overall environmental "hoofprint" of grazing. 

Australian farmers interested the technology can also take advantage of government rebates for solar power water pumps.
   
Source: US Department Of Agriculture
  
Related: Solar powered water pumping and rebates.
 

Victoria Calls For Amended Renewable Energy Target

 

Crashing Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) prices are threatening major wind and solar power projects in Victoria according to Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor.

Mr Batchelor said an influx of RECs in the market generated by heat pumps and solar hot water systems along with the new Solar Credits multiplier scheme has greatly reduced REC prices, and a reasonable REC value is essential to ensure that the large scale renewable investments can occur.

"We’ve seen the value of Renewable Energy Certificates fall from over $50 in May this year to less than $35 now," Mr Batchelor said.

While stating that heat pumps and solar hot water systems deserve Federal Government support, Mr Batchelor believes they do not belong in the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and should instead be incorporated in the new Energy Efficiency Mechanism being developed by the Federal Government.

A recent example of the impact of falling REC prices in Victoria was the news the southern hemisphere's largest wind farm project may not proceed as AGL Energy is considering dumping its $800 million investment in the wind power facility. According to AGL, up to eight wind farms being considered by the company were under threat due to renewable energy certificate prices.

Falling REC prices are not only affecting large renewable energy projects nationwide, but also home-owners purchasing solar hot water and solar power systems as Renewable Energy Certificates play a major role in offsetting the cost of acquiring a system. 

While system providers who hedged against a REC price drop can offer more generous solar rebates, once their hedging arrangements are exhausted they will face the same issue as the many providers who didn't.

A COAG review into the Federal Government's Renewable Energy Target is currently considering factors that may be impacting upon the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) market in the short and long term.
 

News for Wednesday 23 December, 2009

 

• Energy Matters Secures Major Government Solar Panel Tender
  


• Kyocera Supplies 190,000 Solar Panels To Spanish Solar Farms
  

View all news for Wednesday 23 December, 2009 on one page

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