How will solar power help Serra Farming to reduce the costs of irrigation?

The Atherton Tablelands, with an average altitude of 550 to 600 meters above sea level, is a region where water is crucial for farming. The Tinaroo Dam stores water that is distributed through channels to irrigate the crops in the Atherton Tablelands and Dimbulah area. The farmers need a lot of water and power to distribute it, so they use VSD drive pumps with 90 kilowatt motors. Recently, the piping network was upgraded, and a solar system was installed to reduce their energy bills by up to 80%.

The main reason for installing solar panels was to cover the energy consumption of the pumps that draw water from the Tinaroo channel. The pumps run for 10 to 12 hours daily, especially in the dry season, and they need a stable and cost-effective source of energy. Solar power is an ideal solution for this, as it allows farmers to irrigate their crops in shorter bursts during peak periods and reduce their energy bills significantly. Other farms in the area also use solar power to irrigate their thousands of avocado trees, which require a vast amount of water and storage.

The lay of the land around this Atherton Tablelands, which is average about five 550 to 600 meters above sea level. The water is fed by a nearby dam called Tinaroo Dam, and it has channels feeding off that to distribute water through the Atherton Tablelands, from around this area, all the way up to Dimbulah. Because the water is the source of life for growing, and they need a lot of water and a lot of power to distribute that water. Predominantly, they're VSD drive pump with a big motor, the motor is a 90 kilowatt motor. They've just upgraded their piping network from a 6 inch to eight inch, less drag by 25%, so less power by 25%. That coupled with a solar system, they think that they're going to reduce or negate potentially up to 80% of their bill, because they're going to be able to irrigate in shorter bursts during the peak periods of nine till three during the day.

One of the main reasons for solar on this site was to cover, this is one of the biggest energy consumption. Is just this site here, but their main pump drawing from the Tinaroo channel here. So they need to make sure they cover it because sometimes they can run for 10 to 12 hours every day, especially in the dry season. As we're nearing the end of the wet now, being mid-March, and in about six weeks, they'll be constantly irrigating at least 10 to 14 hours every day. They have other farms very close by within five, 10 minutes drive, which has got many thousands of avocado trees at different maturity. And as the trees mature require vast amount of water and also a lot of storage and packing as well. Solar is definitely the solution for that.