Essential components
Fig. 2: Drip irrigation (Courtesy:
http://www.urbansustainableliving.com)
The actual components and hardware requirement depend on the type of irrigation system, such as surface irrigation where water is moved across the surface of agricultural lands, localised irrigation like spray or drip or trickle system (Fig. 2) where water is applied to each plant or adjacent to it, and sprinkler irrigation where water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers or guns.
The major components of a typical solar-powered pumping system include a solar panel array that powers a bore-well pump or surface pump. The size of the complete system is dependent on size of the pump, the amount of water required per day and power available from the solar panels. The water is often pumped from a bore-well or stream into a storage tank or directly into the field. The solar-powered irrigation system has three main parts: motor pump, pump controller and solar panel.