Solar-powered 'flying horse' radically slashes cost of irrigation

High fuel prices may be no more than an inconvenience for most of us, but they can keep farmers in impoverished nations from making a living. A new vehicle has been designed to help, by using solar power to irrigate fields.Rural farmers in Bangladesh have traditionally used pumps to irrigate their fields every dry season.According to global development organization BRAC International, over 80% of those pumps run on diesel, almost all of which is imported. Farmers had already struggled to afford that diesel, but now with the current US-Israel-Iran conflict causing fuel prices to skyrocket, many can no longer do so at all.That's why BRAC developed Ponkhiraj, a three-wheeled vehicle named after a flying horse from Bangladeshi folklore. The vehicle's pump draws water from a nearby canal or lake, and delivers it onto the farmer's fieldBRAC International Instead of wings, however, the vehicle has an array of 3.3-kW monocrystalline solar panels that fold out to either side when it's parked. These deliver electricity – through a hybrid controller – to a 3-hp pump. That pump draws water from a nearby source such as a canal or lake, and delivers it onto the farmer's fields at a rate of up to 60,000 liters (15,850 US gal) per hour.BRAC claims that Ponkhiraj can irrigate approximately 2.5 acres (1 hectare) per day at a cost equivalent to about 80 cents, as opposed to the roughly US$8 it would cost to run a diesel pump for that same period. And as an added bonus, Ponkhiraj produces no toxic exhaust or carbon emissions, plus its batteries can be used as a mobile power hub if needed. The photovoltaic panels fold down when it's time to hit the roadBRAC International The base vehicle is a modified electric version of a Tempu, a people- and cargo-hauler widely used around Bangladesh. It can travel down narrow rural roads from farm to farm, stopping at the edge of fields to irrigate them along the way.BRAC is now in the process of building more Ponkhirajs, with an eye towards bringing the technology to other developing nations outside of Bangladesh. Ponkhiraj: solar helps irrigate fields amid Bangladesh's fuel crisis Source: BRAC International