Solar Powered Automated Drip Irrigation System using Particle Swarm Optimization

Abstract

There is a significant imbalance between energy demand and supply due to dwindling conventional energy resources and ever-increasing energy consumption. Researchers are now developing more ways to utilize green energy production, mainly renewable energy such as Solar PV and Wind energy. To increase the efficient use of water resources and decrease the dependency on conventional energy sources, researchers are finding ways to integrate renewable energy sources with irrigation systems to help the agricultural sector ease the cost of irrigation. The author used Particle Swarm optimization in their research to determine the optimal soil depth to be maintained at field capacity to minimize the cost of irrigation. A solar-powered drip irrigation system is then implemented to test and prove that drip irrigation systems are more efficient than traditional irrigation methods. This study also utilizes Internet-of-Things technology to provide remote monitoring of the system. At the end of the study, it is found that the output solar-powered automated drip irrigation system is comparable to that of a traditional irrigation system while using significantly less water.