In the hourly simulation, every hour of the year has enough power for the farm loads and enough water for the scheduled irrigation, with no unserved energy and no water deficit. HydraSolar checks this in year 1 and in year 25, when the PV panels have aged. It is a modelled result for one historical weather year, not a guarantee against equipment failure or unusual weather.

From the solar monitoring network of K.A.CARE (King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy), Renewable Resource Atlas. The calculator holds one year of measured hourly data for each of 45 stations: global horizontal, direct normal and diffuse irradiance and air temperature, from a complete year of measurements (2014, 2015, or December 2015 to November 2016 where no calendar year is complete). Fewer than 0.5% of hours were missing; these were filled from neighbouring hours or days. The irradiance on a south-facing array tilted at the station's latitude was calculated with the Perez model. If you enter farm coordinates, the nearest station is used.

A shallow lined reservoir is cheap to excavate and line, easy to maintain, and keeps the surface pump's suction head small. The depth is fixed so that the footprint follows directly from the volume (area = volume ÷ 1.5 m).

The well pump runs only on sunshine (at least 200 W/m² on a horizontal surface), so the reservoir has to carry the irrigation through every period without enough sun. In the measured years many stations had one or two fully overcast days, for example around 25 November and 25 December 2015 at stations from Arar and Riyadh to the Eastern Province and Asir, when the pump could not run at all. For 100% availability the reservoir must bridge the longest such spell and the refill after it. If yours cannot, the calculator names the dates and offers two sizes: the smallest that works, and a slightly larger one with a lower life-cycle cost (at the bare minimum, a much larger PV array is needed to refill in time).

Other loads follow a typical farm day (low at night, a morning rise and an evening lighting peak). A/C runtime follows the site's hourly temperature and sun, and is scaled so that A/C uses 75% of the farm's electricity over the summer months, without exceeding the A/C rating you entered. The same scaling applies in winter, so A/C use falls with cooler weather.

Unless you enter an existing pump's flow, the calculator tests well pumps that can lift the largest daily irrigation volume in 5, 6, 7 or 8 hours of sunshine, sizes the PV and battery for each, and keeps the one with the lowest life-cycle cost. The pump power shown is electrical input power; the motor suggestion adds a 10% margin over the estimated shaft power and rounds up to a standard rating.

The diesel case supplies the same farm loads and pumps the same water directly from the well. A well-pump generator runs while irrigating and a farm generator runs all day; each is the smallest size in the rated fuel-consumption chart of diesel generators (20 to 2,250 kW) that carries its peak load at no more than 80% of its rating. For every hour, the fuel is read from the chart at the generator's actual loading (linear between the 25, 50, 75 and 100% points, and the 25–50% line extended below 25%). The total is valued at 1.79 SAR/L including VAT and converted to CO₂ at 2.68 kg/L. The flat rate of 0.27 L/kWh is shown as a check; at the part loads of a real farm, the chart usually gives more fuel. Generator purchase and maintenance are not included, so real savings are larger.

The “Ask about your report” bar on the results pages answers questions in English or Arabic using only your full report: inputs, sizes, costs, performance, diesel comparison and assumptions. It does not use outside information; if the report does not contain the answer, it says so. Your report is sent to the AI service only to answer your question.

Select “Request Official Quotation” after calculating your design, fill in your details and press “Submit Request”. The request is sent from the website itself (no e-mail or messaging app needed), with a summary of your design and a link that reproduces it. The HydraSolar team confirms the site and well data with you and arranges an official quotation from a certified solar PV contractor. You can also send a general inquiry without a design.

No. They are indicative unit prices for budgeting. You can change every price and assumption on the last calculator page, and the report lists the values used. Well drilling, pipelines in the field, land, permits and grid connection are not included.

Pump curves at part load (a constant energy per cubic metre is used), drawdown changing with flow, battery capacity fade during operation, sub-hourly variations, and multi-year weather variability. Groundwater permits and aquifer sustainability are the farm's responsibility.