Irrigation system that works with sunlight, the novelty of Valparaíso
The knowledge of computer programming, added to the great passion for agriculture, led Alejandro Hermosilla to devise an irrigation system that works completely with sunlight.
The new method is installed on a hectare of land located in the town of Cuncumén, in the municipality of San Antonio de Valparaíso. And from now on it looks like a success due to its practicality, low cost and sustainability.
To make the project possible, Hermosilla had the support of INDAP's Intrapredial Irrigation Program, which allowed the CLP 4.394.376 to finance its cost. With the resources, it was possible to install eight solar panels of 320 watts each.
As described by the same farmer, the energy from the sun makes the pump that drives the water, which lies in a well at depth, is distributed throughout the mechanism and arrive evenly at the entire plantation at a suitable time.
Of course, the system has certain advantages over those that are already known, highlights Hermosilla. It centers its benefits mainly on the fact that it will be possible to save energy and money, which qualifies as "efficient".
In the communes of San Antonio and Santo Domingo, photovoltaic panels of different capacities have been installed near 41, but none of them has achieved the power that the project of Alejandro Hermosilla.
The Intrapredial Irrigation Program of INDAP has already expressed the will to promote this type of works throughout the Valparaíso region. In fact for the remainder of 2018 is expected to install four solar projects in the area.
There is talk of an off-grid system, solar pumping, off-grid system with pump energization for direct risks, as well as an on-grid system that would help to inject watts into the local electrical network.
Costumer
Hermosilla recalls that he spent a good part of his years in Santiago, a city where he focused on computer processes, binary language and his confessed obsession with computer applications. However, when he finished university, he was sure he had to return to his other hobby. : The Agriculture.
He remembers that he cultivated almost everything, but he emphasizes that he has been focused on the walnut plantation for more than a decade. He assures that the system he implemented in his farm has been in operation for just over a month and that he feels very proud about it.
"I'm just using it, and from September and October onwards, it will get the most out of it, when the flowering starts and then the fruits come out. This system occupies one hundred percent of solar energy, I do not spend any electricity for irrigation and it allows me to save time, "says Hermosilla.
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