AUTOMATIC IRRIGATION SYSTEM USING SOLAR ENERGY

1. INTRODUCTION

In this digital world we need every possible thing around us to be automatic which reduces human effort .There are increasing electronic circuits that make todays life easier and simple. Nowadays , energy crisis and water crisis are the big problems faced by everyone.

So, there is a need to conserve energy and water . The aim of this is to make solar based prototype to irrigate the field automatically. Imagine how helpful it will be when you are busy in doing your next task and your field is being irrigated automatically at low cost . No worries about under irrigation as well as over irrigation , no worries about the wastage of water as well as expensive electricity , no worries about your busy schedule. This is what Automatic irrigation about and there is no end to its practical application. ‘AUTOMATIC

IRRIGATION SYSTEM USING SOLAR ENERGY’ as the name specifies that it irrigates the field when the moisture value of soil is below the reference value and it will automatically turn off when the moisture value in soil exceeds that reference value.

1.1. BACKGROUND  

From different ages of evolution we’ve come to the dawn of technological era. Mankind started their journey from stone and stick and now they’ve come to Nuclear weapons. Since earlier age human has always wanted to do their works in a simplified and easier manner. Speaking the truth they’ve always wanted some assistance to do their work for them. And they’ve got technology which has given them things beyond their imagination. A person finds it almost impossible to spend a day without technology . There are robots assisting people in their works. Machines have helped them do impossible things which human alone can’t do . So they are pretty much dependent upon technology. Automation have replaced humans in so many sectors of tedious jobs , there is technology in every field.

As People are wasting energy for no reason, like they forget their works because of their busy schedule. Thus we are going to design a system that lets them to be more busier without any wastage of water as well as electricity.

1.2. DESCRIPTION

The components used in our project are:

i. Arduino Uno:

The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on ATmega 328 . It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, USB connection power jack, and a reset button.

                                       

ii. Moisture sensor

The soil moisture sensor (YL-69) consists of two probes which are used to measure the     volumetric content of water. The two probes allow the current to pass through the soil and then it gets the resistance value to measure the moisturevalue.

                                       

iii. Water pump:

The water pump is used to artificially supply water for a particular task . It   can be     electronically controlled by interfacing it to a microcontroller . It can triggered ON/OFF by sending signals as required. The process of artificially supplying water is known as pumping

          

 iv. Relays :

Relays are switches that open and close circuits electromechanically or electronically. Relays control one electrical circuit by opening and closing contacts in another circuit. Once the controller receives this signal, it generates an output that drives a relay for operating the water pump.

                                                      

 v. Solar panel and Battery:

 Photovoltaic solarpanels absorb sunlight as a source of energy to generate electricity.  Battery is charged by solar energy .

1.3. SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

This automation prototype is meant to demonstrate the proper functionality and scalability of the system, not to include every desired system feature. There are countless features and devices that the system could eventually incorporate, but in order to maintain proper project scope, only a single user interface have been designed. In context of Nepal, we have many available water resources but many of us are unaware about the proper use of available resources. Some of the applications of this project are:

1. Large farms where manual  irrigation is time consuming.

2. Gardens where proper and determined irrigation is necessary

3. Nurseries where water resource is limited but the effective irrigation is needed.

1.4. OBJECTIVES

• To minimize manual intervention by the farmer.
• To prevent the excessive wastage of water & electricity.
• To increase the production of crops.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:

In this paper, soil moisture sensor was placed in root zone of plant and gateway unit handles the sensor information . one algorithm was developed for measure threshold values of soil moisture sensor that was programmed into a microcontroller to control water quantity. For power photovoltaic panel was used.

The automatic system was tested for 7  days and save 90% compared with traditional irrigation system. Three replicas of the automated system have been used successfully in other places for 1 month. Because of its energy autonomy and low cost, the system has the potential to be useful in water limited geographically isolated area . This paper design a model of automatic irrigation system which is based on microcontroller and solar power was used only for source of power supply.

 Various sensor were placed in paddy field and the project was done and tested successfully

3. METHODOLOGY:

 3.1. WORKING PRINCIPLE

This project uses Arduino Uno to control the motor. The Arduino Board is programmed using the Arduino IDE software. Two  moisture sensors  measures the level of moisture in the soil and calculates the average moisture value and sends the signal to the arduino if watering is required. The waterpump supplies water to the plants until the desired moisture level is reached. The rechargable battery that supplies required power source is recharged via Solar panel. A moisture sensor is used for sensing the soil condition –to know whether the soil is wet or dry, and the input signals are then sent to the microcontroller, which controls the whole circuit. Whenever the soil condition is dry, the microcontroller sends command to relay and the motor gets switched on and supplies water to the field.And if the soil gets wet, motor gets switched off.

3.2. BLOCK  DIAGRAM

                                               Fig 3.2:  Block Diagram of AISS using solar panel.

3.3. ALGORITHM

Step 1 : Start

Step 2: Read the moisture value from the soil using moisture sensors

Step3 : Sensor sends the value to the Microcontroller

Step 4 : Check if the available average moisture value is <  required value

                if yes , then goto Step 5

                else if , goto Step 2

Step 5 : Active the Relay Switch

step 6 : Turn on the motor Automatically

               then, goto step 4

3.4. FLOWCHART

                Fig 3.4 Flowchart

3.5. CONNECTION DIAGRAM

Fig 3.5  ; Connection diagram of Automatic irrigation system using solar Energy

4. PROBLEM FACED

The aim of this project is to encourage effective irrigation. During our project we faced the following problem:

One main problem was during shouldering where the components get excessive heating and they stopped working. Second was the heat was carried by the shoulder and it caused short-circuit at the other end making the sensors and the other components stop working but we managed the proper connection very carefully.

5. CONCLUSION

In present days especially farmers are facing major problems in watering their agriculture fields. It’s because they have no proper idea about when the power is available so that they can pump water. Even after then they need to wait until the field is properly watered ,which makes them to stop other activities.

Here is an idea which helps not only farmers even for watering gardens also, which senses soil moisture and switches the valve automatically when the power is ON.

Note: This project is performed by:

Anil Kumar Panta

Rajan Adhikari

Sangam Adhikari

Sudip Poudel