Solar Panels Plus Farming? Agrivoltaics Explained

Farming under solar panels can create a greenhouse-like effect at the same time can produce energy to satisfy the demand of the farms at least.

Five drivers of Smart Farms

In recent years every other novel innovation is invented to make a system SMART. In agriculture also all the recent innovation is related to IoT which is the technique with which we are converting a conventional farm into a "Smart Farm".In case of smart firms there are five essential factors which is important for making a farm "SMART". The three factors are :

1)Farm management 

Farm management is the collective term for numerous management strategies and methods that are applied to maintain a farm thriving and rewarding. Even among farms, the procedures will vary relying on the form of farming business included and the size of the operation as a whole. (https://www.farmmanagement.pro/what-is-farm-management/)

2)Tasks management and planning:

There are a pair of elements in the handling of irrigation projects. One is the combined management function, which has much in common in any administration of any other kind of organization. It is apprehensive with the direction and coordination of the decision-making processes within the project area, and its purpose is to get all those involved in the process (farmers, staff, external government agencies) to work towards the accomplishment of the project's objectives. 

The remaining element is the management of specialized activities  like water distribution, maintenance, irrigation assistance services etc. which are particular to irrigation projects. These techniques have specific characteristics which require particular kinds of management skills and deign of operation.

Both supply and demand data can be compiled to estimate the probabilities of reconciliation in the objectives and choices of different interest groups - farmers, irrigation officials, agricultural officials, higher-level government agencies - to reach agreement on the forthcoming seasonal plan. The required adjustment in the interest of equatable water distribution, motivating staff (through rewards and sanctions) to resist pressures from farmers to mis-allocate water; also rewarding farmers for good watercourse operation and maintenance and punishing them for misappropriations. the development of easy information and control systems with clearly-defined criteria of performance and suitable objective indicators can be monitored and accordingly the process can be adjusted through :

i)Planning

ii)Execution

iii)Monitoring

3)Hydro-Climatic Factors: 

The availability and convenience in acquiring the required water resources mainly depends on climate and environment of the area. The unevenness in rainfall and temperature has obvious impact on stream flow level and time of hydrologic events. As for example the factors of environment and hydrology can be enlisted as below :

i)Rainfall

ii)Runoff, 

The rate and quantity of runoff are generally required for the design of drains, canals and other channels, prediction of water levels in streams and rivers and when storage is involved for irrigation, power generation, river transport etc. the approximation must include annual or longer-term variations, minimum yield and reliability.

Quality of runoff is increasingly a matter of concern due to chemical pollution  from health and environmental aspects; sedimentation, because of interference with drainage, land use, irrigation and power generation and degraded quality of runoff will degrade the quality of yield. A high pH runoff can make a field alkaline and the low pH will made it acidic.Both of which is unsuitable for a healthy yield of healthy and common crops.

That is why this factor need to predicted,simulated and optimized to develop a smart farm management plan. 

4)Erosion or Soil loss: 

Estimating soil loss is especially complicated because there are multiple variables on which soil erosion changes. As a result, models, whether empirical or process-based, are necessarily complex if they are to include the effects of all variables.The Universal Soil Loss Equation(USLE) will shortly be replaced by the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), which is comparable with the previous equation of soil loss estimation but with more advanced inputs and designed for operation on personal computers. 

In recent years, there has been a expansion of mathematical simulation models, based on the various physical processes involved in soil detachment, transportation and deposition. Most have unrealistic titles constructed to provide an unpronounceable acronym. The complexity of the erosion process, and the need for huge data banks to compile the many algorithms which are included in the models, mean that most of this type of model requires a powerful mainframe computer.

Amount of soil loss is another important factor which need to be recorded, estimated and optimized to create a smart farm management plan as more loss in soil will make the field less cultivable.

5)Sediment Transport

Sediment movement in streams and rivers takes two forms. Suspended sediment is the finer particles which are held in suspension by the eddy currents in the flowing stream, and which settle out only when the stream velocity decreases, such as when the stream gradient flattens, or the stream discharges into a pond or lake. Larger particles are rolled along the stream-bed and form the bed-load. When a farm takes the water from a stream or river for irrigation the quality of yield among many other factors also depend on the presence of suspended solids in irrigation water. Larger the concentration less preferred is the water for application as the suspended materials can choke the soli pores and reduce the aeration in the soil layers which is required for a healthy cultivation.That is why one of the major drivers of smart farm is to monitor and predict the sediment transport of the stream or river which is treated as the source of irrigation.

To make a farm smart one has to controle,predict and monitor the variations in these five factors which are the five pillars of intelligent farms.

Thanking you,

Founding Editor

Innovate with Sustainability

http://www.baipatra.ws 

Group : The Water,Energy and Informatics Groups

http://groupspaces.com/WaterResourceManagers/

My Author Profile/My Kudos Profile

5 innovative ways to use IoT in Agriculture

Smart agriculture sensors, Drones, Livestock tracking, Remotely controlled Greenhouses and predictive framework for estimating production rate or farm management software(FMS) are the five major ways by which IoT is applied in agriculture and feedstock management to achieve the objective of maximum yield under minimum cost. 

This article will highlight five farm management software utilized by many farmers for smart monitoring and decision making regarding the crop to be cultivated, location for cultivation, approximate profitability and many other aspects of "smart farming".

Below is the list of well-known FMS which is capable to execute all the events required to make a farm "Smart" like : tasks management and planning, hydro-climatic and environment factors measurements and prediction, information delivery, Crop/Livestock, Inventory and account management, procurement processing, supplier management, location selection ability, monitors yield and profit from the yield, risk management and platform flexibility. In addition to these features the user will also consider the procuring cost, ease of use, customer support and number of features available before he start to use the software.:

1)Agrivi : 

Agrivi farm management software helps you strategy, monitor and analyze all lifestyle on your farm easily. Tillage, planting, crop protection etc. and all other activities are maintained with a few clicks. 

2)Conservis : 

Conservis is a comprehensive, easy-to-use farm management software suite for managing both row and permanent crops by tracking field activities, controlling inventories, understanding costs and analyzing yields.

3)Farmbrite : 

Farmbrite is an easy to use, all-in-one online natural and conventional Farm & Livestock Management Software.Farm Scheduling,Employee Task Management,Equipment Records,Asset Tracking & Logging,Co-op management,Sell your products online are some of the features of this software.

4)Granular : 

"Historical field performance guidance","Crop health data from Pioneer’s global field testing" and "Estimates for land value and expected yields" are the three main features of Granular which is more suitable for commercial farmers.

5)FarmERP

Farm Management Software is implementable for multiple types of users,location and cropping pattern or crops.It has separate modules for "Purchase, Inventory, Production, Post production, Contract farming, Biotech, HR, Accounts, Maps, Quality Control, and Farm analytics".

Thanking you,

Founding editor

Innovate for Sustainability

My Author Profile/My Kudos Profile

Image Source 

 

Use Duck as Pesticide

Solution to pesticide problem

Using Ducks to function as pesticide.

See the video shared from World Economic Forum and found in Linkedin.

Click the link below : 

"Natural Solution to Natural Problem"

Idea for simultaneous conservation of water and energy in domestic household

A new idea for conservation of water and energy in domestic households. The water supplied to the domestic consumers were often wasted as the type of use for the water enforce them to do so. Most of the water is drawn out after use as waste water.That is why a continuous requirement is there for domestic water consumption. This new idea uses sub-tanks,sensors and water purification unit to not only save water but also to reduce the use of electric pump per day which amounts to a regular energy use of nearly 1kw. Below is the presentation :

Smart use of Water and Energy in domestic households from Mrinmoy Majumder

Research ideas on the selection of Energy Conservation Measures

The auditing of energy use depict the potential or magnitude of cost savings that can be achieved in a consumer if proper energy conservation measures are adopted.

But in the existing energy audit methodologies the selection mechanism of ENergy CONservation(ENCON) measures are still subjective and depends on the experience of the auditor and the demands from the engineers of the system being audited.

This subjectivity is not acceptable and can be mitigated if proper research is performed regarding this aspect.The following topics can become a potential idea of research to mitigate the problem.

Research Idea 1 : Potential of Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods in selection of Energy Conservation measures proposed by the auditors

The advent of the decision making methods like MCDMs has provided sufficient opportunity to imbibe objectivity in the decision making processes required in various problem solving activities.In the present case also the ENCONs can be selected based on the methods of multi criteria decision making(Analytical Hierarchy Process or Analytical Network Process). The implementation of these methods will maintain objectvity and will make the selection free of human bias.

Research Idea 2 : Identification of priority parameters for classification and prioritization of ENCONs proposed for a specific industrial or domestic or agricultural consumers by MCDM methods

The parameters with which the ENCONs can be prioritized is also a point of concern and here also the strength of MCDMs can be adopted.The end result from most of the compensatory MCDMs are the priority values or a fraction which gives the priority of selection or weight of importance of a parameter with respect to the objective of decision making.More the priority more will be the importance.If the correlated factors are ranked based on the priority values then the parameter with the highest weight of importance will be identified as the most important parameter with respect to the selection of ENCONs for reducing energy consumption in the audited system.As the MCDMs are free of human bias the identification will be objective and will represent the reality.

Baipatra: Domestic Energy Management Tool

Baipatra: Domestic Energy Management Tool: The Domestic Energy Management Tool can be utilized for selection of a plan of energy use by the domestic consumers implementing which wil...

News : Chainpur Seti Hydro Power Project license is cancelled

The Chainpur Seti Hydro Power Project license is cancelled.Jindal Power promoter of the project does not submit the progress report and enhanced fee demanded from them.

""According to Pantha, the Ministry's secretary level meeting annulled the license citing that the project failed to renew and submit its latest progress reports despite asking the project to do so from time to time. The project failed to renew as per the increase in the rate of renewal charges, he added.""..Read for more details.

News : Investor in Small Scale Hydropower Plant will receive 12.48 to 15.98 pence/kWh sold from UK govt

In UK a Feed in Tariff scheme is in place for encouraging the renewable energy producers.Recently the 100-500kW hydropower producer is included in this scheme and will receive 12.48 -15.98 pence/kWh.

This step will surely encourage even small scale investors to invest in small scale hydro-power plants.This scheme is introduced to achieve UK's target of renewable energy share within all kind of energy sources: 15% by 2020.

For more details please give a visit to Renewable Energy World

MCDM and Energy Loss Prevention

It is important to take a comprehensive, agglomerative, logical,mensurable mitigation measure for compensating the energy overuse so that the measures can be optimally allocated, applied and also evaluated.

Multi Criteria Decision Making can be utilized to identify and select the better mitigation measure among the available options.The MCDM can also be used to select suitable locations for applying the selected measures.Overall the applications of MCDM will help the engineers to take an optimal measure to compensate the energy loss due to massive and uncontrolled use of fossil fuels for satisfying the growing requirements of luxury.

New Research Idea:Evaluation of Energy Saving Measures Employed in High Voltage Electrical Accessories by Analytical Hierarchy Process and PROMETHEUS Method

Idea : Evaluation of Energy Saving Measures Employed in High Voltage Electrical Accessories by Analytical Hierarchy Process and PROMETHEUS Method

The energy saving measures employed by various high voltage electrical devices has to be evaluated to ensure the reliability of the claims made by their manufacturer.The adopted measures can be evaluated based on various multicriteria decision making methods like AHP and PROMETHUS.After the related and relevant crtiria were identified the AHP and PROMETHUSThe methods may be utilized to give weightage to the selected attributes based on its importance on conservation of energy.

Some instruments of same quality may be taken to analyze their capability of conserving energy based on these weighted parameters.

Tools Utilized : AHP and PROMETHUS decision making methods

Keywords : MCDM,AHP,PROMETHUS,HVAC devices,energy conservation

How to earn carbon and energy credits by Home Afforestation ?

Afforestation will yield carbon credits.After maturity the plants can be sold against its wood value.Nowadays afforestation schemes are undertaken and encouraged by the government.Such afforestation schemes serves two purpose : conserve nature and provide an alternative livelihood to the local people.The afforested area can be used as a tourist place which will create another stream of income for the local people.

But due to the skepticity of the people(Kassioumis et.al.,2004),absence of awareness(Kassioumis et.al.,2004),lack of commitment(Morris,1997),incoordination between government and cultivators(Madsen,2002),availabiltiy of inadequate investment(Balooni and Singh,2007) and absence of large areas for forestation Chaudhuri,1997){A satellite study in India has revealed that it had lost pastures,groves,multiple tree types by 10.87 million ha within 1950-51-1986-87)} has induced many afforestation schemes to fail.The medium or small scale schemes utilize the available land and yield profit for the cultivators but the impact on the nature is offcourse minimal.Recently such schemes are extremely successful and thus many people are now adapting this practice of afforastation as an alternative livelihood.

As midscale schemes of afforestations are successfull, govt can think about micro-afforestation or home afforestation so that an attempt can be made to conserve nature in the urban places and also it could provide the domestic people an opportunity for pertime income .Moreover micro-afforestation will also ensures conservation of energy if suitable specie/s are used.In such schemes the backyard of residential houses are utilized for artificial forestation.

Once the backyard is utilized for plantation, the surrounded area will be protected from incoming solar radiations and air pollutants.If suitable species is used the adaptation of artificial forestation scheme can also reduce humidity from the incoming air.

"Plants breathe in carbon dioxide, which is a big pollutant, and emit oxygen. They also absorb other air pollutants, such as ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, according to the Colorado State University at Boulder".."On average, a tree can absorb about 141 lbs. of carbon dioxide a year, according to Colorado State University at Boulder."(Johnson,2012)

Although presence of forest and carbon dieoxides released from them in the night may raise the temperature in the night but the shades provided by them in the day will be influential in saving a lot of energy as the consumer will not require to switch on his/her electrical devices to reduce the room temperature.The decrease in air pollutants and moisture in the incoming air will also reduce the room humidity and thus prevent the use of dehumidifiers.

The selection of species for afforestation will be very important for acquiring maximum benefits from such schemes.

There are many species of plant which absorbs moisture from the air(Orchids).Such plants can be used in the buffer region of the artificial forest and the house.Some species of plants absorb pollutants from the air.Thus a house surrounded by various species of tree which can absorb pollutants and moisture from the air,does not attract insects,provide shades and has certain amount of wood value will become an ideal choice for home afforestation.Along with these major requirements species,that can be afforested in the backyard has to fullfil the following conditions :

It must be able to adapt to a variety of sites
It must grow fast and be economically viable
It must yield an end product that minimizes waste in the production process
It needs to be resistant to freeze, drought, diseases and pests
It must not have a large spread or require a large space to grow


Mixing of different species capable of performing the objectives can also be implemented.As their are lot of options available, proper decision making approaches should be adopted to select the species for afforesting the backyards for maximum benefits against minimum cost.

Some examples are given below :

Eucalyptus with Orchids
Common Bamboo with Orchids
Jackfruit with Orchids


The entire backyard can be divided into two parts.The perifery can be reserved for afforestation by Eucalyptus or Common Bamboo.The orchids(which absorbs water from air) can be planted within them as orchids are known for their symbiotic food collection systems.The insectivorous plants can be planted just beside the house so that insects from the afforested species can not enter the house.

The importance of afforestation schemes even as small as the backyard can be represented by this simple fact : "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that planting one acre of trees on marginal land would sequester 0.6 to 1.6 metric tons of carbon annually in the first five years of growth. Assuming that planting one acre of trees in the Southeast will sequester about 1.0 ton of carbon each year (slightly less than the median of the EPA estimated range), and that 1.0 ton of carbon is contained in 3.67 tons of CO2, then one acre of trees planted on marginal land will sequester (save, reduce, or prevent from escape to the atmosphere) about 3.67 tons of carbon dioxide each year during the first five years."(Keeping Forest in Forests,2012).This rate of absorption varies with climate,shape and size of tree,local environment and other related factors.But more or less if this rate is taken as a reference then it can be said that one square feet of afforestation will sink 76.43 grams of Carbon dioxide.On the other hand according to USEPA(EPA 2012) a single family home in US used 19.43 metric tons CO2 per home per year to satisfy their energy needs(including Carbon dioxide generated for production of electricity and burning natural,liquid petroleum gas,fuel oil and kerosenes).According to USEPA calculations, for afforesting on 100 square feet of land absorbs 7643 grams of CO2 which will mitigate atleast some part(0.13%) of the 6.68 metric tons of CO2 generated due to the utilization of only electricity to satisfy daily needs.If suitable species of tree are utilized and as discussed earlier home afforestation will reduce the electricity requirement of households, then sufficient amount of CO2 can be reduced which is why micro-afforestation schemes are required to be encouraged for mutual benefit : nature and mankind.


Arthur Morris,Mountain Research and Development,Vol. 17, No. 1 (Feb., 1997), pp. 31-42,Published by: International Mountain Society,Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3673911.

Kassioumis, K., K. Papageorgiou, Ath Christodoulou, V. Blioumis, N. Stamou, and Ath Karameris. "Rural development by afforestation in predominantly agricultural areas: issues and challenges from two areas in Greece." Forest Policy and Economics 6, no. 5 (2004): 483-496.

Madsen, Lene Møller. "The Danish afforestation programme and spatial planning: new challenges." Landscape and Urban Planning 58, no. 2 (2002): 241-254.

Balooni, Kulbhushan, and Katar Singh. "Prospects and problems of afforestation of wastelands in India: A synthesis of macro-and micro-perspectives." Geoforum 38, no. 6 (2007): 1276-1289.

CHAUDHURI, JAYASRI RAY. "Concept of Sustainable Development and Social Forestry in India." Geography and Environment 1 (1997): 130.

Hollan Johnson,2012,Effects of Air Pollution on Plants,Retrieved from http://www.gardenguides.com/86160-effects-plants-air-pollution.html

Keeping Forest in Forests,2012,How much CO2 can a Tree Store?,Retrieved from http://www.mensetmanus.net/windpower/tva-foia/green-claims.shtml#Documentation

USEPA,2012,Home energy use,Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/refs.html.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority

Authorities involved in Energy Conservation Activities : Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority is the Governmental agency of New Zealand looking into the improvement of energy efficiency in homes and businesses.Link

Blogroll : Oilgae

 A blog about energy conservation,facts and innovations in the latest years...Oilgae.

Energy Efficiency Classificiation Tool by Siemens

A new tool developed by Siemens to save energy in your new building and make it energy efficient-"The tool allows a quick analysis of the installed plant and an estimation of potential energy savings and payback time. It assesses the BACS Energy Performance Classification of your building based on the standard EN 15232."..Know more.

Installing better building insulation could reduce world energy demand..NewScientist

"Simple changes like installing better building insulation could cut the world's energy demands by three-quarters, according to a new study"..See the link in NewScientist.

News : Vietnamese not happy with their hydro-power plants.

Do you know ? :

Vietnamese not happy with their hydro-power plants."A report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that Vietnam has had 1114 hydropower projects nationwide, including 217 projects now under the construction and 309 other projects being planned." But according to the studies hydro-power plants in Vietnam is causing more problems than benefits(like earthquakes,increase in maintenance cost,unreliability in performance etc.)for more info please go to Vietnam.net.

Fish Bladder to reduce effect of change in pressure on fish passing through the turbines

A new project on development of hydroelectric turbines with bladder like features to reduce the  'change in pressure' while shoal of fish passes through the turbines in hydro-electric plants is conducted in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with the funds provided by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The scientists have deviced a bladder which shrinks under rising pressure and expand when the pressure is decreased just like fish bladder.

For more info please visit Flatt,2013

Developers and financiers will invest $1.9 trillion building clean-energy power plants worldwide from 2012 through 2018

Do you know ?

 "Developers and financiers will invest $1.9 trillion building clean-energy power plants worldwide from 2012 through 2018 as demand for electricity increases, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts."..

Full news on Hydroworld.com

One Idea of using your home to save energy

A trench around the house can store water(and prevent runoff),reflect heat(and reduce the need to run air coolers) & prevent stray animals to come inside.More over if some lotus or any aquatic plants are added, the same trench will increase the oxygen content as well as enhance the beauty of the land inside.