A leading North West business has joined forces with the CSIRO to integrate emerging technologies with agriculture "to create a cleaner, greener and smarter" Australian first.
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Last September Tamworth's ReAqua installed the nation's largest solar diesel hybrid irrigation pump on a Narromine property, and have recently, in a public-private partnership with CSIRO now added cloud forecasting technology to that 550kW system.
The system is designed to forecast any potential cloud cover which may impact on the effectiveness of the 1500 panel array, in a bid to seamlessly integrate solar and diesel capabilities according to reAqua managing director Ben Lee.
"One limitation of large scale solar pumping is the 'start stop' effect of intermittent cloud cover shading the solar array," he said.
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"This either stops the pump or calls for the generator to start and offset the lost solar production. Frequent start/stop events increase maintenance needs, reduces water volume delivered, and consumes excess fuel.
"CSIRO's technology delivers tailored forecasts of cloud movements, which can then optimise solar energy generation systems, cutting diesel use and emissions even further."
CSIRO senior research engineer Chris Knight said the new technology "ensures that remote areas can use renewable energy sources to the fullest extent."
"This technology can help save both money and emissions, and also reduces wear and tear of the generator," he said.
"An important aspect of CSIRO's work is applying our research to real projects such as this. The data we collect will deepen our understanding of which applications are best suited to solar forecasting technology."
Prior to the solar diesel hybrid pump being installed Jon Elder's 'Waverleigh' property was using 350,000 litres of diesel a year to irrigate 550 hectares of cotton, and 1000 hectares of wheat and winter grains.
That fuel bill was halved by the technology, and the cloud forecasting is expected to further reduce that still.
"Diesel is the highest cost on our farm, and has been a real constraint on growth, and a factor in our vulnerability to drought," Mr Elder said. Incorporating solar power will also reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by about 500 tonnes each year, and we're very proud of that."
Recently 'Waverleigh' became the first cotton farm in Australia to be recognised as an accredited power station under the Federal Government's Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET).
