Title: 

Design and Techno-Economic Analysis of PV Powered Irrigation System: Case Study in
Rwanda

Abstract: 

The agriculture sector is a major economic driver for Africa. However, climatic change is driving severe disruption across Africa, causing prolonged dry seasons and erratic rainfall. As a result, farmers are facing lower farming yield. To mitigate this serious challenge, farmers must adopt modern and green technologies, like solar irrigation. To show the potential of solar irrigation system to mitigate this critical problem, a research project has been developed with the collaboration of Georgia Tech, University of Rwanda and Adama Science and Technology University. The project aims at developing a PV irrigation system that integrates IoT and controllers for real-time monitoring of the performance of the PV-irrigation system and for optimizing water conservation. This project is envisioned to be a prototype model for further scaling up the deployment of PV-irrigation systems in Africa to enhance sustainable agricultural. 
As part of the whole project, this seminar focuses more on the design and economic assessment of the system for a particular village in Rwanda.

Bio: 

Getachew Biru Worku obtained his MSC and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Dresden University of 
Technology, Germany. He has more than 30 years of academic and research experience in academic institutions and industry. He has extensive experience in teaching a broad range of electrical engineering courses with excellent feedback and acknowledgements from faculties and students. He has been lecturing courses such as Power Quality and Reliability, Power System Operation and Control, High Voltage Engineering, Power System Analysis, Power Transmission and Distribution Engineering, Electrical Machines Design, Smart Grid and Traction Power System in various Ethiopian Universities and University of Rwanda. He is currently employed as an associate professor at the University of Rwanda giving lectures and advising postgraduate students. He is a dedicated researcher in renewable energy deployment focusing on reliability of off-grid and microgrids to bring sustainable electrical power to the underserved areas. His research areas are electrical power and renewable energy and has authored and co-authored more than 45 papers in peer-reviewed journals.