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Solar photovoltaic (PV) irrigation is increasingly used in agriculture, driven by its low operation cost and virtually zero emissions, providing electricity access in rural areas. However, the high investment cost requires an optimal design. The objective of this work was to develop a user-friendly tool to optimally size a PV generator that satisfies crop irrigation needs under local constrictions. The ODSIS (Optimal Design of Solar Irrigation System) tool, was organized in three calculation modules, preceded by two complements, which determine the daily crop irrigation needs and power demand of the pumping system. Then, the first module sizes the PV plant, considering a multiplication factor, and provides the PV production potential throughout each day of the season. The second and third modules evaluate the total investment cost and equivalent greenhouse gas emissions avoided by comparison with traditional energy sources. This tool was applied to a case study in Senegal for which a multiplication factor of 1.4 was obtained for the optimal PV plant size. Between 22% to 64% of the investment cost corresponded to the PV pumping system, depending on the irrigation technique. The use of PV energy in the case study would represent an annual economic saving for the farmer after 5 to 8 years of payback period, avoiding the emission of between 29.8 and 37.9 tCO2eq/year for the case study area.

An innovative self-compensating gated pipe system equipped with calibrated nozzles was developed in the framework of the EU project MADFORWATER no. (H2020-E.3.5.4 GA ID: 688320) To improve the performance of furrow irrigation method. The experiment was conducted in CIHEAM-Bari experimental field (Italy) on bare soil. The following performance indicators were assessed: duration of the irrigation event (IT), application efficiency (AE), distribution uniformity (DU), in addition to the volume of drainage water accumulated downstream and compared with traditional furrow irrigation. Preliminary results showed that IT decreased by one third (from 45 minutes to 30 minutes), AE and DU increased by 17% and 20% respectively. In addition, the volume of drainage water decreased by around 50%, which may positively impact the environment, especially in those countries such as Egypt where, during peak periods, drainage water is reused for irrigation. This new technique provides a cost-effective alternative to traditional surface irrigation methods with no requirement for additional energy consumption requirements for pump drainage water into the upstream irrigation canals. Additional field tests will be carried out in different environmental contexts and on cropped areas to confirm the above reported preliminary results.