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First Solar Powered Center Pivot Irrigation System Launched in Nebraska
- jollyllama 4y agoSo it sounds like for the area of their solar array, 1/4 acre (1 to 1 + 1/4 w/ well pump), they are watering up to almost 10 acres. 7 tower arm w/ sprayer = 370' radius 370' radius => 430084' ^2 => ~9.8 acres Sounds pretty good.
- orionion 4y agoA typical quarter section (160 acre) center pivot covers 128 to 132 acres leaving 4 "wasted corners" covering between 28 to 32 acres available for solar.
- jollyllama 4y agoSo supposedly such a center pivot is then 1/4 mile long. Wouldn't that then be a center pivot that's 1320' long? I think they're using a smaller setup here, but they're not exactly clear about that. Edit: searching around, that sounds like a 10 tower. The article said they've got a 7. So I think they've got a lot more than I initially guessed and slightly less than your post guessed.
- gardenfelder 4y agoI'll suggest that this act of adding solar to a conventional agriculture system is - as some might say - like putting lipstick on a pig. Here's why I say that: There is an emerging agriculture known as Regenerative Agriculture [1] (RA) which is sometimes known as "no till" farming, which, in theory, reduces the need for massive field crop irrigation. Let me add that the move to RA from present systems is a long way off, so the act of adding solar to the present process to reduce carbon is still beneficial. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_agriculture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_agriculture