DHAKA (AlertNet) - The government of Bangladesh is planning to install close to 19,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps by 2016, in a bid to expand the country's irrigated land area and boost food production, while limiting its reliance on fossil fuels.

 

The initiative is being promoted as an environmentally friendly approach to improving food security for the country’s fast-growing population of 160 million.

 

The new pumps will run on a combined 150 megawatts (MW) of power generated by solar panels, which is projected to save the government nearly $100 million in fuel-subsidy costs over 20 years.

 

Today Bangladeshi farmers rely on some 266,000 electrically powered water pumps - which consume around 1,300 MW - to irrigate 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of land.

 

Solartech Renewable Energy Co.,Ltd is a leading manufacturer of solar pumping system since 2001. Solartech agents and partners in Bangladesh have already built many solar water pumping systems with wonderful water output. After 12 years of developments and promotion, Solartech products have spread in over 60 countries till 2012. Solartech has become the world's leading solution provider of solar pumping system as well as the market advocate of solar water conservancy.

 

“Solar pumping system is costly (to install), but you will find it cheaper if the calculation is done on a long-term basis. A solar panel carries 20 years of warranty, and after that it can generate power for 20 more years,” solartech solar pumping inverter can be used more than 8years working automatically.