New Initiatives
1) Solar Powered Irrigation Device
IDEI in collaboration with NEC Corporation Japan (www.nec.com/en) specifically the Department of Smart Research Laboratories-NEC (http://www.nec.com/en/global/rd/labs/se.html?) & Nomura Research Institute (NRI) Ltd (www.nri.co.jp/english/ )Department of Automotive & Electronic Industry consulting initiated research & development. The objective of the R&D was to test three identified solar panels for recognized parameters for use in irrigation by the bottom of the pyramid population.
Under the experiment, following two prototypes portable solar irrigation pumping system:
- Portable PV Direct Solar Irrigation DC Pump
- PV Solar Irrigation AC Pump
Panels/Experiment Underway at IDEI's i2i Centre, Bhubaneswar
Four foldable modules with maximum power 100Watt (±10%) are used to generate the power of 400watt at peak to run the 250watt DC/AC pump.
Features (PV direct Solar DC Pump):
- The system is designed with 250watt DC surface pump having inbuilt pump controller, and directly connected to the power output of 400 watt panels without battery backup.
- Portable, simple and easy to install and therefore can be carried to field on day to day basis irrigation requirement.
- The total dynamic head (suction + delivery) is 30ft with limiting 25ft suction lift.
- The pump efficiently runs at solar radiation of 900Watt/m².
- 12,000 liters is the average total discharge output per day at 20ft vertical suction lift.
- The system can irrigate an area up to 2000m² per day.
- The irrigation efficiency is expected to increase if the system is suitably paired with water application device such as low pressure drip or piped furrow irrigation system.
Features (PV Solar AC Pump):
- The system configuration is designed with 250watt AC surface pump, 02X 12V75AH batteries, charge controller & inverter.
- System is not feasible to carry to the field on day to day basis irrigation requirement.
- The total dynamic head (suction + delivery) is 35ft with limiting 25ft suction lift.
- 9000liters is the average discharge output per day at 20ft vertical suction lift.
- The system can irrigate an area up to 1500m²
2) Solar Powered Treadle Pump
Before IDEI established partnership with NEC Japan, IDEI had already established a prototype system. It was initiated to achieve 10,000litres discharge output per day at 07meter suction lift. The design configuration is made using maximum power of 120W photovoltaic solar panel to operate the treadle pump through 100watt DC geared motor and necessary link mechanism. IDEI is continuing work on this prototype as well.
Features (First Prototype):
Specifications:
- 3.5 inch diameter single Cylinder reciprocating type Positive dispalcement Pump.
- Maximum lift: 7 m suction with open delivery.
- Discharge: Varies from 700lph to 1500lph depending upon Solar intensity.
- Status: Under in-house development Phase.
- Estimated Cost: US $ 200
3) Low Cost Green House
Low Cost plastic green house is designed with bamboo structure & UV stabilised plastic sheet film covering 200m² areas. The plastic sheet is multilayer extruded film which has few other characteristics such as anti-dust, anti-drip/fog etc . The structure is made using locally available bamboo poles and strips of different sizes and nails. The structure is oriented from east to west to achieve maximum exposed area towards south to harness maximum green house effect. Natural ventilation is provided to control the humidity & temperature.
The illustrated Green House is the second prototype the team has prepared after garnering learning’s from the first structure. The team experimented with the new prototype and cultivated one of the high value crops- Capsicum in the green house. A control plot was established outside Green House. All parameters such as were kept the same and both were irrigated using drip irrigation at IDEI research farm. It is noteworthy that the farm is located in the state of Orissa, where climate is not fairly suitable for Capsicum. Results found that one, within the green house capsicum were cultivated and those outside in the control reported very slow growth and; two, the yield in green house was five times more than the outside.
4) Low Cost Cold Storage
The Low Cost On-Farm Storage is being designed to preserve vegetables for about 5 days. It works on Evaporative Cooling Process and therefore the effectiveness depends upon the climatic factors (Relative humidity). It is therefore best suited in dry areas in summers.
The developed prototype has another additional feature- it has two levels of storage space. This will help accomodate larger quantity of produce.
This is also under in-house testing and evaluation.