Forster Irrigation was awarded a contract to install a 102kW (399 no x 255W panels) solar array to provide power to a 63kW 380V pump. The solar pump was positioned in a false borehole behind a weir on the Rovza river in Bikita District. The pump has a maximum flow of 250m3/h to a 70m head and is recorded to have an average daily flow of 1 650m3.
It supplies water into 3 different drag line sprinkler irrigation fields each around 8ha to make a total of 24ha. Once the sprinklers are pressurized fully the water then travels up to a 1,000m3 storage reservoir. As the pump slows down in the evening the gravity feed from the reservoir takes over so that there is a stable pressure into the sprinklers. That way, irrigation can be done over 14+ hours and not only the 9 hours that the solar pump will be operating. Forster Irrigation designed the solar array and selected the pump and installed the reservoir and irrigation distribution network as well as providing solar power to a nearby hospital.
