Sustainable deployment of solar irrigation pumps: Key determinants and strategies

Irrigation access is deemed critical to sustainable agricultural growth, which underpins the global food and livelihood security. Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) have emerged as a promising technology to expand irrigation access and are being deployed rapidly across several developing countries. Even as the interest in SIPs is rising, the understanding about their sustainable deployment and use remains limited. Based on a detailed literature review and semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders, we identify and discuss 14 determinants of economically viability, socially acceptability, and environmental sustainability of SIPs, under any given context. These include crop water requirement, depth of water source, solar irradiance, scale of farming, utilization factor, cost of alternatives, system quality, aftersales service, water use efficiency, and technology awareness, among others. Drawing from the best practices and experiences in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, we also put forward key recommendations on ways to incorporate sustainability concerns in the policies and programs for SIPs deployment. The study emphasizes that policies and programs for SIPs should focus on building awareness and trust, providing need sensitive support, priortizing areas for SIPs deployment, and ensuring long-term sustainability. This article is categorized under: Energy and Development > Science and Materials Energy and Development > Economics and Policy Energy and Development > Systems and Infrastructure