GO CONTROL: Optimization and improvement of solar irrigation efficiency through the use of digital technology, applying artificial intelligence
- Type Grupo operativo
- Status In progress
- Execution 2024 -2027
- Scope Supraautonómico
- Autonomous community Castilla y León; Comunitat Valenciana; Galicia
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2023-2027
This project will positively contribute to improving the economic performance of the three main beneficiaries: farmers, developers of solar energy installations and developers of digital and AI technologies.
The aim is to facilitate the transfer and application of the knowledge needed to support science-based agriculture that can make crops profitable, increase the efficiency of its work and optimise natural resources; promote digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence to generate employment and attract young people and women, promote self-consumption of energy and advance the development of the rural world.
Irrigated crops in Spain represent 22% of the total cultivated area, a figure that has continued to increase since 2017. Drip and sprinkler irrigation systems have allowed producers to have more exhaustive control of the resources they consume, although they also entail high costs and a significant initial investment. One of the biggest limitations in agriculture is knowing when to irrigate and in what quantity.
Technological innovation is the key to solving this problem and the great revolution in ICT technologies, sensors and automatic processing capacity has opened up new possibilities for optimising water and energy.
The compatibility of solar irrigation with digital technology would help to curb this phenomenon of depopulation in rural areas, contributing to improving economic performance and creating value in these spaces. Women have a key role in the rural world, which can be enhanced by activities that generate economies induced by the principal.
- Definition of the water requirements of each crop and meteorological analysis.
- Crops, plot characteristics and definition of the water needs of each one.
- Meteorological analysis: Obtaining historical data.
- Study of the optimal sizing of water reservoirs.
- Determination of the parameters to be measured. Analysis of the necessary sensors (temperature, air humidity, soil humidity, photogrammetry, phenological state, availability of solar energy, etc.).
- Identification of all parameters to be measured.
- Analysis of most suitable sensors.
- Study and analysis of strategies, algorithms and applications.
- Process analysis and dataloggers.
- Definition of algorithms for controlling interrelations.
- Development of information visualization system for farmers.
- Energy needs assessment.
- Study of the energy capacities of photovoltaic installations.
- Analysis of the energy needs of different irrigation systems.
- Study of the capacity and amount of energy storage
- Implementation of pilots, sensorization and application of algorithms.
- Implementation of each of the pilots.
- Sensorization.
- Application of algorithms.
- Validation of pilots and replicability.
- Validation of the pilots.
- Aeronautical analysis and validation with drones.
- Platform for replicability and transfer to other crops
- Analysis of the reduction of the water footprint and the carbon footprint.
- Data analysis.
- Real-time information on energy storage capacity.
- Measuring the reduction of both the water footprint and the carbon footprint
- Dissemination
Irrigated crops in Spain represent 22% of the total cultivated area, a figure that has not stopped increasing since 2017. Drip and sprinkler irrigation systems have allowed producers to have more exhaustive control of the resources they consume, although they also entail high costs and a significant initial investment. One of the greatest limitations in agriculture is knowing when to irrigate and in what quantity. Drought has become a major threat to the countryside and is one of the challenges that must be responded to immediately.
Technological innovation is the key to solving this problem. Irrigation is highly dependent on energy. Due to the increase in electricity rates in recent years, energy costs in irrigation have skyrocketed, causing a loss of profitability in irrigated agriculture. This increase in cost, together with the intensification of energy needs, has led to a significant increase in production costs. The modernization of hydraulic infrastructures has brought positive effects due to designs to operate on demand, with water available to decide how and when to irrigate, but the need for these hydraulic systems to operate under a wide range of operating conditions, pressures and flow rates, makes the management of water and irrigation communities an extremely complex task.
There are multiple strategies to optimize the water-energy nexus, such as the sectorization of the distribution network or the control of critical points, but all of them reduce the degree of freedom of irrigators when establishing their irrigation schedule, reducing some of the favorable aspects of modernization.
The great revolution in ICT technologies, sensors and automatic processing capacity has opened up new possibilities for optimising water and energy. The methodological integration of different techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, Decision Trees, etc., form the core of Artificial Intelligence, allowing the effective incorporation of human knowledge and the design of adaptation strategies for better performance of information systems, water distribution and irrigation.
The use of drones will allow the results to be validated.
Transforming agriculture into a smart and highly technological sector, applying digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in solar irrigation and crop development. Digital technologies and AI, through the use of sensors and drones to validate results, will improve the efficiency of solar irrigation, making the most of natural resources and reducing water and energy consumption. Process analysis and the definition of control algorithms will allow the development of applications for farmers' devices.
- Identification of the parameters to be measured and the appropriate sensors associated with each parameter, through the development of a database and sensor report associated with the chosen data and monitoring.
- Classification of the energy needs of photovoltaic installations and irrigation systems through a report on the energy feasibility and irrigation systems used.
- Algorithms and applications for farmers' devices in real time.
- Implementation of the pilots and their validation.
- Real-time information on energy storage capacity.
- Measuring the reduction of water and carbon footprints through an environmental sustainability study.
- Technical-economic feasibility report on solar irrigation.
- Platform for replicability of solar irrigation based on crops and their phenological state.
- Coordinator name: CLUSTER OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS IN CASTILLA Y LEÓN (CYLSOLAR)
- Postal address: Calle Kripton 18, 47012 Valladolid
- Coordinator email: jimhermj@cylsolar.com
- Phone: +34663700839
This project will positively contribute to improving the economic performance of the three main beneficiaries: farmers, developers of solar energy installations and developers of digital and AI technologies.
The aim is to facilitate the transfer and application of the knowledge needed to support science-based agriculture that can make crops profitable, increase the efficiency of its work and optimise natural resources; promote digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence to generate employment and attract young people and women, promote self-consumption of energy and advance the development of the rural world.
Harnessing the potential of solar energy is key to meeting the goals of reducing CO2 emissions from energy production set out in the Paris Agreement. In addition, using solar energy for typical agricultural activities, such as irrigation, would allow a reduction in the carbon footprint of more than 50%.
On the other hand, the use of new technologies will allow us to reduce water consumption, treat and capture useful information on the state of the soil and the phenological state of crops, improving productivity. At a social level, the rural world of inland Spain is emptying out, crops are being abandoned and the average age of the population is growing alarmingly while the youngest are leaving the farms.
This exodus to urban areas shows that the rural population has two fundamental characteristics: it is masculinized and aged. To change this trend, it is necessary to add value to your activity. The solution is based on taking advantage of favorable factors to promote an economic model based on population fixation, maximum use of available resources and the promotion of economic activities around agricultural production.
The compatibility of solar irrigation with digital technology would help to curb this phenomenon of depopulation in rural areas, contributing to improving economic performance and creating value in these spaces. Women have a key role in the rural world, which can be enhanced by activities that generate economies induced by the principal.
- Clúster de energías renovables y soluciones energéticas de Castilla y León (CYLSOLAR)
- CONFEDERACIÓN ABULENSE DE EMPRESARIOS (CEOE ÁVILA)
- COMUNIDAD DE REGANTES RIO ADAJA
- FUNDACIÓN INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO DE GALICIA
- LA UNIO LLAURADORA I RAMADERA DEL PAIS VALENCIA
- INGENIERÍA Y DESARROLLOS RENOVABLES, S.L.
- FUNDACIÓN CIDAUT
- Clúster de energías renovables y soluciones energéticas de Castilla y León (CYLSOLAR)
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