An Embedded Solar-Powered Irrigation System Based on a Cascaded Fuzzy Logic Controller

This study examines the automatization of irrigation tasks of solar photovoltaic water pumping systems (SPVWPS) in greenhouse applications. A prototype of an embedded control system has been developed for SPVWPS battery-coupled architectures. The new design aims at improving the safety of solar irrigation facility by avoiding the exhaustion of pumping resources (water and energy) while watering. The availabilities of pumping resources are introduced as new requisite inputs of a fuzzy logic-based control system (FLC) so that it can produce adequate and safe irrigation durations. The FLC design consists of two cascaded devices. The first device uses climate data to estimate durations for watering that satisfy crop needs. The second device uses actual resource levels to evaluate the pumping capacity of the SPVWPS regarding requested durations. Watering is performed whenever the pumping capacity of the system represents more than 25% of the total requirement. Test results from an experimental greenhouse prove the effectiveness of the decision-making mechanism that prevents scheduling unsuccessful watering tasks.