PEKALONGAN: Three farmers appear radiant with smiles as water is seen gushing from a solar-powered water pump in Siwalan district's Tengengwetan village, in Pekalongan regency, Central Java.
“Now we can water our rice field by pumping water from the Sragi River using a solar-powered water pump,” Muhammad Chirom from the Kendayan Farmers’ Group told The Jakarta Post. “With this pump, we no longer need to purchase diesel fuel to operate a water pump. We only need to use diesel in the evening.”
That means 20 hectares of rice fields in the village can now receive water despite the long dry season, with water pumped from the Sragi River used to water the agriculture irrigation channel.
Another farmer, Dedi Utomo, said the solar-powered water pump saves some costs and concurred with Muhammad that no longer having to buy diesel was a big advantage.
The solar-powered water pump has been very useful for farmers, Rasito said.
“All this time we must buy fuel, both during the daytime and in the evening,” he said. “When it is difficult to get diesel, we also suffer from water scarcity as we rely on the rain.”
Chirom said the solar-powered water pump was provided as assistance from the Central Java provincial administration and was operational by early July.
“The assistance consisted of a solar-powered water pump, and we installed it over two days in late June,” he said. “There were eight solar panels measuring 2 metres by 50 centimetres. There were also a control system and one water pump.”
He said the farmers did not calculate the water volume per minute.
“All we know is that the water is flowing smoothly, and a lot of it,” he said.
The solar-powered water pump can be operational from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. When the sun rises, the pump is already storing electricity, but not enough to power the pump. The sunlight has yet to fully hit the solar panels to be turned into electricity.
Dedi said the presence of a solar-powered water pump allows farmers to be more relaxed in planning and managing their planting season.
With the pump, farmers can have two planting seasons in a year, which means two harvests.
The water pump also cuts fuel costs, as a diesel-powered water pump now only needs to operate in the evening.
Farmers required 30 litres of diesel per day, and now they only need 15-20 litres per day.
“We can save some Rp 100,000 [US$5.63] per day,” Chirom said. “On the other hand, we no longer worry about diesel because we only get a quota of 10 litres per day.”
For 30 members of the farmers’ group, such a saving is no small amount; it allows controllable rice production costs.
Rasito even expects the water pump to at some point be operational around the clock, if they can acquire batteries.
Central Java Governor Achmad Luthfi, who directly witnessed the opening of the solar-powered pump at the Sragi River, said he was satisfied.
The use of solar-powered water pumps is a component of the Central Java Food Fortress programme.
“Currently there are three locations for these types of pumps in Brebes, Cilacap and Pekalongan regencies,” he said. “Using solar power is also part of efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption and farming production costs.”
The three locations now water some 50 hectares of agricultural land, with the pump in Pekalongan alone providing for almost 20 hectares of land.
Luthfi had hoped for three locations to develop as a model that can be applied in other cities and regencies in Central Java, as well as at the national level.
Based on monitoring by the Post, the budget for a solar-powered water pump still depends on solar panels being installed to produce electricity.
The price for solar panels with a maximum power of 350 watt-peak (Wp) ranges from Rp 1.3 million to Rp 1.8 million, solar pump controller ranges from Rp 1.2 million to Rp 2 million, while a submersible pump that runs directly on electricity generated by solar panels or stored in a battery ranges from Rp 2.5 million to Rp 3.5 million.
The total cost is from Rp 5 million to Rp 7.3 million.
There are also, reportedly, makers of solar-powered water pumps who can offer different prices based on requirements.
For small-scale or household use with a 12-volt/180-watt capacity, the price is between Rp 500,000 and Rp 1.5 million using a small direct current pump and solar panel.
The price for a medium-scale system for a small irrigation channel ranges from Rp 2.6 million to Rp 6 million with a power of between 300W and 500W, complete with a controller.
Higher capacity water pumps at a larger scale, or for commercial agriculture, range from Rp 7.8 million to Rp 18.5 million with the ability to water a vast or higher plot of land. - Jakarta Post/ANN
