January 15, 2025

Emmanuel "Manny" F. Piñol

Official Website

SOLAR-POWERED IRRIGATION WORKS IN ACTUAL SITE DEMO

Manny Piñol September 8, 2016 2 min read

 

By Manny Piñol
It works!
The much-awaited first pro to-type of the Solar-Powered Irrigation System functioned perfectly in an actual field demonstration in Coachella Valley, Southern California.
Designed by Solar-Power expert Moses Khu and assisted by solar-powered fishpond operator Rocky French, the prototype pumps out 400 gallons of water from a deep well per minute and if operated 8 hours every day 192,000 gallons of water.
The modification in this new system is the absence of a battery to store the power as is common in other solar-powered systems.
I asked Moses and Rocky to design this proto-type for the Filipino farmers who do not have access to water sources, especially those who are far from the power grid.
In my tour of the country, I saw that there are many areas which could be made productive if only there is a source of water.
The first place I saw which gave me an idea was a parched rice field I saw in Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur during the first leg of my Biyaheng Bukid on May 19.
This was the same concern raised to me by many farmers during my recent Biyaheng Bukid sorties, the latest was in Nueva Ecija where upland farmers complained that they do not have enough water for their rice fields, vegetable farms and even for drinking.
The beauty of the solar-powered irrigation system is that it could also provide drinking water and excess electric power for the community.
The solar-powered irrigation system could draw out water from as deep as 1,200-feet as evidenced by a working system in French’s fishpond in Thermal City. California.
With the first prototype proven to be working, at least five other units will now be assembled and shipped to the Philippines.
Hopefully before the end of October and before the end of the first 100 Days of the Duterte Presidency, these units will be established in five pilot areas all over the country.
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