Solar Irrigation

‘Solar Irrigation in India’ Knowledge Portal

Till about 2009-10, almost all of the couple of thousand solar irrigation systems installed in India were for ‘technology demonstration’. These were implemented in controlled, academic environments with the objective of establishing technical feasibility of pumping water for irrigation using solar energy. Financially, solar technologies were considered unviable, especially for agriculture with high energy demand and limited purchasing power of small farmers. Not many people could have imagined what happened in the next decade.

Between 2010 and 2020, the number of solar irrigation pumps in India grew to more than 250,000 through a mix of improvements in panel efficiency, declining unit prices and aggressive government support. As the numbers continue to grow, our understanding of their functioning, technical and financial business models, impact on agriculture and water resources, promotional strategies, and institutional capacity requirements are also growing. In 2018, acknowledging the potential of ‘solar irrigation’ in reshaping India’s massive irrigation economy, the Government of India announced KUSUM (later, PM-KUSUM; Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan) which now boasts of an ambitious target of installing more than 3.5 million solar irrigation pumps over the next few years.

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Featured Articles
December 25, 2022 Efficient and cost-effective irrigation system matching the small-scale water harvesting and storage systems is much needed
There is a need to need to develop solar powered micro-sprinkler system considering the techno-socio-economic situation of the small holders of the dryland region. (Image: Rawpixel; Free CC0)
March 8, 2022 Designing policies that take into consideration the economic, social and institutional barriers that women face can greatly help in enhancing women' involvement in solar irrigation.
A woman cleaning a solar panel (Image Source: IWMI)
July 8, 2021 A compilation of different state level solar irrigation policies provides a quick snapshot of institutional development of solar irrigation in India.
Different solar irrigation policies in India (Image: IWMI)
March 19, 2021 IWMI’s novel experiment in Chakhaji village
Yatin Kumar, one of the early solar irrigation entrepreneurs in Chakhaji (Image: IWMI)
January 28, 2016 What will it take for the Haryana government to switch 7 lakh groundwater pumps to solar powered options so it can lower its energy footprint and contain losses in the energy sector?
Better incentives needs to be provided to farmers to use solar pumps for tubewells in Haryana
August 28, 2015 North Rajasthan is making good use of subsidies for micro irrigation and solar water pumps but can this sustain?
Farmer Sunil Bishnoi has seen a five times rise in income from his farm thanks to drip irrigation.
Karnataka to launch floating solar energy parks on its lakes
News this fortnight Posted on 21 Jul, 2024 11:13 AM

Karnataka to launch 'water surface solar energy parks' on its lakes

Three government departments of Karnataka, namely the minor irrigation, water resources and Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) have come together to create the first-ever ‘water surface solar energy parks’ in southern India.

Floating solar. Far Niente vineyard in Napa Valley, California. Image for representation purposes only (Image Source: Solarwriter via Wikimedia Commons)
Solar powered irrigation improves nutritional outcomes in Chattisgarh tribals
News this fortnight Posted on 02 Jun, 2024 10:56 AM

Solar powered irrigation has led to improvement in the nutritional status of Chattisgarh tribals 

Solar power use in a Tamil Nadu farm (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Floating solar gains importance as land resources in India shrink
News this fortnight Posted on 03 Sep, 2023 09:09 PM

Floating solar projects gain importance with shrinking land resources in India

Floating solar. Far Niente vineyard in Napa Valley, California. Image for representation purposes only (Image Source: Solarwriter via Wikimedia Commons)
Smaller farm sizes limit the impact of agricultural intensification in Eastern India
Posted on 29 Jul, 2023 04:40 PM

Agricultural intensification and irrigation development have been considered vital for achieving food security, climate action, and poverty reduction in small holder dominated poverty hotspots of the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) in South Asia informs this paper titled 'Farm size limits agriculture’s

Paddy fields of Bihar (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Solar powered micro-sprinkler irrigation system for semi-arid tropics
Efficient and cost-effective irrigation system matching the small-scale water harvesting and storage systems is much needed Posted on 25 Dec, 2022 12:33 PM

Diminishing water resources to irrigation is a major global challenge in sustainable food production. Terrapon-Pfaff et al. (2018), analysed the linkages between small-scale energy projects in developing countries and the food and water aspects of development.

There is a need to need to develop solar powered micro-sprinkler system considering the techno-socio-economic situation of the small holders of the dryland region. (Image: Rawpixel; Free CC0)
Agents of change: Women in solar irrigation
Designing policies that take into consideration the economic, social and institutional barriers that women face can greatly help in enhancing women' involvement in solar irrigation. Posted on 08 Mar, 2022 07:44 PM

Touted as the one of the most innovative technologies in agriculture, solar irrigation pumps have been accelerating India’s renewable energy transition.

A woman cleaning a solar panel (Image Source: IWMI)
Solar irrigation policies in India
A compilation of different state level solar irrigation policies provides a quick snapshot of institutional development of solar irrigation in India. Posted on 08 Jul, 2021 02:00 PM

Solar pumps and solar irrigation are not new to India as the first program to install solar pumps started close to three decades back in 1993

Different solar irrigation policies in India (Image: IWMI)
Are solar powered irrigation systems scalable in India?
Compendium on solar-powered irrigation in India Posted on 20 Mar, 2021 09:38 AM

Article by: Sakshi Saini and Paresh B Shirsath

 Solar power has huge potential for application in the agriculture sector, especially in the irrigation space. (Image: IWMI)
Energising Bihar’s agriculture
IWMI’s novel experiment in Chakhaji village Posted on 19 Mar, 2021 07:51 PM

With small and fragmented land holdings, owning a well and pump is not a viable option for all farmers.

Yatin Kumar, one of the early solar irrigation entrepreneurs in Chakhaji (Image: IWMI)
Solar pumps solve irrigation trouble
Solar irrigation pumps have been hailed as a one stop solution to meet the irrigation needs of the farmers as they provide sustainable energy at a cheap price. Posted on 19 Mar, 2019 06:10 PM

Agriculture in Bihar has languished primarily because of high input costs, especially that of energy due to inadequate grid electricity supply and a high price of diesel. Rural electrification through grid supply is not happening in Bihar due to lack of public investment. Also, the existing groundwater markets are neither increasing irrigation nor achieving equity.

New employment has been created as a result of the pilot in the form of the S-ISPs and their operators which will increase considerably if the project is scaled up. (Image: IWMI)
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