Experts suggests use of solar power driven water pumps as a major alternate source of irrigation for better crop yields in a power-starved country like Bangladesh.
‘Solar power could be used as an alternative source of electricity for irrigation to ease the country’s acute power crisis by reducing load of 700 to 800 MW in a day,’ former DG of Power Cell BD Rahmatullah on Saturday told the news agency (BSS).
The government could take initiatives to transform the irrigation pumps into solar pumps for saving power and fuel as two pilot projects of solar irrigation plants are already working successfully in the country, he said.
‘Against the backdrop of power crisis, we should look at more to the renewable energy like other countries and I am reiterating that Bangladesh has the potentiality of producing 3,500MW from renewable sources,’ the former power cell chief added.
In the country, presently state-owned power plants generate only 3,500MW of electricity a day, whereas demand is 6,000MW. The demand is growing by 500MW a year due to increasing industrialisation.
Rahmatullah said the cost of solar panels is high, no doubt about it, but solar energy’s unique attributes to needing no fuel, high durability and reliability and being able to operate for longer periods without maintenance, make it economical for all types of applications.
He said the government can come forward with financial package for the farmers to transfer all shallow pumps into solar ones to save the electricity and consumption of fuel.
Adequacy of sunshine in our country makes the solar power eligible for agriculture irrigation especially for the boro crop as it is harvested during dry season, said agriculture expert M Shariful Rahman, Principal of Moniharpur Agriculture Training Institute, who runs a solar irrigation pump on a pilot basis inside his institute in Bogra district.
‘I ran the solar pump during the last boro season and successfully irrigated around 15 acres inside my institute,’ he said. The solar panel, which was installed by the Waste Concern, a voluntary organisation, on a pilot basis has the capacity of producing maximum of 1.4 kilowatt of electricity and 6000 litres of water in a day.
Waste Concern executive director Maqsood Sinha said Bangladesh presently Has 11 lakh shallow tube-wells, out of which 9.03 lakh is diesel driven while the rest 1.97 lakh electricity-run.
‘In order to make the farmers independent of price increase of diesel, as well as to tide over the scarcity of diesel, there is a good opportunity to provide irrigation through solar powered system,’ he said.
Director of Waste Concern Iftekhar Enayetullah said the price of solar pump along with solar panel is about Taka four to six lakh which has a life of 15 years.
‘A farmer holding 25 bighas of land spends Tk 75,000 per year for irrigation, therefore, simple pay back period is roughly 6.3 years whereas the life of the solar pumps is 15 years,’ he said.
Like Waste Concern, Rahimafrooz Bangladesh, which is a pioneer in making batteries of solar panel locally, also installed another solar pump in Chapainawabganj district through a non-government organization.
‘Solar power could be used as an alternative source of electricity for irrigation to ease the country’s acute power crisis by reducing load of 700 to 800 MW in a day,’ former DG of Power Cell BD Rahmatullah on Saturday told the news agency (BSS).
The government could take initiatives to transform the irrigation pumps into solar pumps for saving power and fuel as two pilot projects of solar irrigation plants are already working successfully in the country, he said.
‘Against the backdrop of power crisis, we should look at more to the renewable energy like other countries and I am reiterating that Bangladesh has the potentiality of producing 3,500MW from renewable sources,’ the former power cell chief added.
In the country, presently state-owned power plants generate only 3,500MW of electricity a day, whereas demand is 6,000MW. The demand is growing by 500MW a year due to increasing industrialisation.
Rahmatullah said the cost of solar panels is high, no doubt about it, but solar energy’s unique attributes to needing no fuel, high durability and reliability and being able to operate for longer periods without maintenance, make it economical for all types of applications.
He said the government can come forward with financial package for the farmers to transfer all shallow pumps into solar ones to save the electricity and consumption of fuel.
Adequacy of sunshine in our country makes the solar power eligible for agriculture irrigation especially for the boro crop as it is harvested during dry season, said agriculture expert M Shariful Rahman, Principal of Moniharpur Agriculture Training Institute, who runs a solar irrigation pump on a pilot basis inside his institute in Bogra district.
‘I ran the solar pump during the last boro season and successfully irrigated around 15 acres inside my institute,’ he said. The solar panel, which was installed by the Waste Concern, a voluntary organisation, on a pilot basis has the capacity of producing maximum of 1.4 kilowatt of electricity and 6000 litres of water in a day.
Waste Concern executive director Maqsood Sinha said Bangladesh presently Has 11 lakh shallow tube-wells, out of which 9.03 lakh is diesel driven while the rest 1.97 lakh electricity-run.
‘In order to make the farmers independent of price increase of diesel, as well as to tide over the scarcity of diesel, there is a good opportunity to provide irrigation through solar powered system,’ he said.
Director of Waste Concern Iftekhar Enayetullah said the price of solar pump along with solar panel is about Taka four to six lakh which has a life of 15 years.
‘A farmer holding 25 bighas of land spends Tk 75,000 per year for irrigation, therefore, simple pay back period is roughly 6.3 years whereas the life of the solar pumps is 15 years,’ he said.
Like Waste Concern, Rahimafrooz Bangladesh, which is a pioneer in making batteries of solar panel locally, also installed another solar pump in Chapainawabganj district through a non-government organization.
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