Irrigation pumping
Night-time irrigation with stored solar energy and pumps that do not stop mid-shift.
Agriculture and irrigation
You produce at midday. You irrigate and cool around the clock.
Irrigation pumping, cold stores, olive mills, wineries and farms concentrate their consumption in seasonal campaigns and in hours without sun. A BK battery stores the solar surplus, cuts contracted power and reduces diesel spending.
Agriculture and irrigation
- Contracted power (indicative)
- −20 %
- Jaén irrigators, with STS
- 522 kWh
- Grants that may apply
- ERDF · LEADER
The problem
Seasonal loads, panels exporting and a generator for the peaks.
On the farm, energy is consumed in bursts and at hours that do not match the sun.
- Irrigation is concentrated at night or in season, exactly when the panels are not producing.
- Cold stores run 24 hours a day and cannot stop.
- Olive mills, wineries and processors have seasonal campaigns lasting a few months with very high peaks, yet the capacity charge is paid all year.
- Many farms cover peaks with a diesel generator while the solar PV exports at midday.
- maximum contracted power.
- −20%
- self-consumption of your own solar energy.
- +25%
- savings by replacing the diesel generator with energy storage.
- 70–80%
- maximum saving on the bill, combining solar PV and battery.
- 82%
BK commercial estimates, for guidance only. Actual savings depend on your consumption, your tariff and your season.
How a BK BESS solves it
Midday sun for night-time irrigation.
The battery stores the solar PV surplus, cuts contracted power and buys grid energy in the cheapest hours. The grid remains as backup and the generator becomes the exception.
- 01
Stores the solar surplus
What the panels overproduce at midday is used for pumping or cooling at night.
- 02
Cuts contracted power
Seasonal peaks come from the battery, not the grid.
- 03
Buys in the cheapest hours
When there is not enough sun, it charges in the cheapest periods.
- 04
Less diesel and no outages
The generator only starts if the battery cannot cope. With STS, pumping and cooling keep running during a grid outage.
- Solar PV
- Surplus going to the battery
- Load covered by the battery
Illustrative layout of a farm with night-time irrigation and a cold store. Actual sizing depends on your load and seasonal curves.
Subsectors
Every farm consumes in its own way.
Cold stores
24-hour cooling with more self-consumption and outage backup.
Olive mills and wineries
Milling, fermentation and bottling: seasonal peaks without raising contracted power all year.
Farms
Poultry, pig and cattle farms: high, constant loads, ventilation and climate control.
Indicative example
Where the savings come from.
Two reference studies prepared by BK for farms with solar PV. They do not correspond to specific clients: they show the order of magnitude and the weight of each line item.
Indicative example
Farm with olive mill, winery and processing plant
380,000 kWh/year · existing solar PV · diesel generator for peaks
Battery
645 kWh
- Solar surplus captured€13,230
- Time-of-use arbitrage€12,580
- Lower contracted power (121 kW)€7,431
- Less diesel generator use€24,705
- Savings/year
- €57,946
- Investment
- €169,541
- Return
- > 30 %
Indicative example
Pig farm
150,000 kWh/year · existing solar PV
Battery
215 kWh
- Solar surplus captured€3,990
- Time-of-use arbitrage€5,440
- Lower contracted power (63 kW)€2,291
- Less diesel generator use€3,897
- Savings/year
- €15,617
- Investment
- €59,449
- Return
- > 25 %
Annual return excluding grants. Figures from reference studies; your result will depend on your consumption, your tariff, your solar installation and actual generator use.
Recommended products
What we solve it with.
Power Pro
112–522 kWhOutdoor all-in-one: installed next to the main switchboard or the pumping hut.
View productCabinets
241–418 kWhTo grow in blocks as the farm's seasons and expansions require.
View productHybrid and STS
PV · grid · generatorCombines solar PV, grid and generator, with millisecond switchover for critical loads.
View productReferences
We have already done it.
BESS for an irrigation community
Jaén
522kWh
250 kW · STS
Your installation
We tell you which system you need and how it performs in your case.
Project data: type, location, energy, power and switchover.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before deciding.
Is it worth it if I only irrigate a few months a year?
Yes, as long as the battery also works the rest of the year: self-consumption, peak shaving or arbitrage. We check this in the study with your month-by-month consumption.
Are there grants?
ERDF funds, the LEADER programme and national and regional grants for renewables and energy storage may apply. We will tell you which ones are currently available for your case.
Can it be financed?
Yes: renting, leasing or a bank loan, through financial institutions we have agreements with. The study will show whether the savings cover the instalment.
Can it handle dust and heat?
They are outdoor units with IP54 protection or higher depending on the model and active thermal management, designed to operate between −30 and 50 °C.
What happens if the power goes out mid-season?
With static transfer switching (STS), critical loads (cold stores, pumping, process line) switch to battery in milliseconds. This is the solution used by the Jaén irrigation community.
Send us your bill and your seasonal calendar.
We tell you which battery your farm needs, how much it saves and how to finance it.