A 140 kW Hybrid PV-Diesel pumping system for constant-pressure Irrigation

This paper describes a 140 kWp hybrid PV-diesel pumping demonstrator for constant pressure irrigation in a 200 ha olive tree plantation at Herdade de São Bernabé, Alter do Chão, Portugal. The PV system was installed in June 2016 and has been working since then. A previous system fed exclusively by a diesel generator was already implemented, and the PV part was added, maintaining unchanged all the irrigation part of the system. The new system configuration and control logic, as well as the implementation in the field, are detailed in this work. The first results obtained from monitoring data during June, July and August 2017 show that 125760 m3 were pumped (55179 m3 with photovoltaic) during 590 irrigation hours. The PR during irrigation hours is 0,42 and PV penetration 43%