Ten Considerations for Solar-Powered Irrigation in Utah Ngonidzashe Mufute, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Kalen Taylor, Mark Nelson, Randall Violett, and Jody Gale
Introduction Generating power from solar energy used to be one of the most expensive options in Utah ($0.175 per megawatt hour [kWh] compared to $0.038 per kWh for combined cycle gas turbine plants) and subsequently accounted for about 0.01% of the energy production in 2009 (Utah Office of Energy Development [OED], 2014; Barry et al., 2009). This scenario is changing. According to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE, 2021), the cost of solar power production went down by 90% between 2009 and 2020.
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Solar-powered irrigation (SPI) is becoming more cost effective and practical to consider on the farm as the cost of alternative sources of energy are rising. Irrigators can now benefit from incentives such as tax credits to help offset costs. Investing in solar provides more independence from price fluctuations and energy shortages. Considerations for SPI systems include energy demand of the irrigation system, type and value of crops grown, available incentives and support, cost and accessibility of alternative energy sources, and multiple uses of the generated solar power energy.
Utah has a sizeable solar energy generation potential, • with average direct normal insolation (DNI) values 2 ranging from 6 kWh/m /day in northern Utah (excluding areas with slopes of 3% or more) to 7.4 kWh/m2/day in southern Utah (OED, 2014; Barry et al., 2009). According to the Western Renewable Energy Zones (WREZ) Phase 1 Report, a location that receives more than 6.5 kWh/m2/day of DNI and has a terrain slope less than 2% is considered viable for solar photovoltaics (PV) power generation. Thus, most parts of Utah receive enough solar radiation to make solar irrigation feasible. It has already been demonstrated that solar-powered irrigation (SPI) can be economically feasible in Utah (Curtis, 2010). Specific examples of different SPI systems from around the world were also shown to be financially viable (Sass & Hahn, 2020). This feasibility may be even more pertinent now when taking into consideration the various financial incentives offered to those turning to solar-powered systems. Over the last few years, SPI has become more cost effective and practical as the cost of energy such as gasoline, diesel, propane, or standard grid electricity (SGE) has continued to rise, whereas the establishment cost for solar-powered systems has continued to decrease (Hicks, 2020; Ran et al., 2018; IRENA, 2019; ACORE, 2021). Solar-power technology is also rapidly maturing and becoming more reliable, especially battery storage technology and solar panels in terms of energy storage capacity and energy output efficiency (Hicks, 2020; Luo et al., 2015; Denholm et al., 2017; Ran et. al., 2018). Investing in solar 1