Planning new irrigation
Compare the cost of a grid connection with solar installation and the cost of using either option over time. A lower connection price only answers the first part of the question.
SOLAR FOR YOUR FARM
Water drives the farm. What drives the water?
The cost of energy can shape the economics of irrigation and other farm operations. Whether you're considering a new connection, running diesel pumps or already buying electricity, let's compare the options properly.
01 / YOUR CURRENT SITUATION
Where is your farm starting from?
A new irrigation installation, an existing pumping bill and a need for power beyond daylight lead to different conversations.
Already paying to pump
Look at electricity or diesel expenditure alongside pump ratings, run hours and seasonal water needs. What is the energy bill actually enabling the farm to do?
Considering hybrid power
Start with when the equipment must run and the power sources available. Storage or backup should serve a defined operating need.
02 / THE ECONOMICS OF RUNNING IT
What would it cost to power your farm differently?
The useful comparison brings together the work you need to do, the hours you need power and the costs you will carry over the years ahead.
01
Start with the water and the equipment
Pump or motor size, water requirements and operating hours shape an irrigation assessment. Refrigeration and other agricultural equipment need their own operating and backup review.
02
Ask when that work needs to happen
Pumping during daylight differs from pumping overnight. Seasonal changes and available power sources affect whether solar drives, hybrid power or storage make sense.
03
Compare the full cost over time
Include the connection or installation, expected electricity or diesel purchases, maintenance and eventual equipment replacement. Make the assumptions behind any estimated return explicit.
FARM CASE STUDIES
A decision in practice.
A real project can show what to consider. Your farm will have its own numbers.
Risa PlainsAvocado-growing farm · Kenya
The connection cost less. The long-term calculation was different.
When choosing how to power its Main Dam irrigation pumps, Risa Plains compared a lower-cost grid connection with the electricity it would need to buy over time. That wider calculation influenced the decision to choose solar.
Original estimate: approximately 2.5-year simple payback from projected electricity purchases avoided. This is not independently verified operating savings or a promised return for another farm.
Read the project details
The original investment decision
Risa Plains grows avocados, with other crops grown around the avocado trees. For the Main Dam irrigation pumps, a utility connection was estimated at approximately half the cost of the proposed solar system. Connecting to the grid required substantially less money upfront.
The farm also considered ongoing electricity purchases. The initial assessment suggested the solar investment could recover its cost in approximately 2.5 years through electricity bills avoided. That calculation was understood to exclude the grid connection cost itself. These figures reflect the original assessment as recalled by the project team; actual returns depend on usage, maintenance, equipment life and other costs.
Two applications on the same farm
Dedicated solar drives served several irrigation pump motors. A subsequent hybrid system with battery storage was intended to power the Main Dam irrigation pumps. Different operating requirements called for different approaches.
Solar drives · November 2024 quotation
Four solar drive arrangements for three 18.5 kW motors and one 22 kW motor. The panel configuration specified 186 × 585 W panels, equivalent to 108.81 kWp of solar PV.
Main Dam hybrid power · May 2025 quotation
A 50 kW GoodWe hybrid inverter, approximately 100 kWh of battery storage and a PV arrangement described as approximately 60 kWp, including solar equipment already at the site.
These are quoted ratings. The final as-built configuration and the overlap between the PV arrangements have not yet been verified, so the two ratings should not be added into a farm-wide total.
The project history
These installations form part of the team's project history at t.power / Thorn Electricals. Both systems are owned by Risa Plains Limited. The earlier paperwork was addressed to Crofts Limited, a sister company.
What another farm can take from it
A cheaper connection does not necessarily mean cheaper irrigation over the years that follow. The useful comparison includes installation or connection costs, energy purchases, pumping patterns, maintenance and eventual equipment replacement.
BEFORE YOU DECIDE
Questions worth asking
You don't need every technical detail to begin a useful conversation about your farm.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Your farm will have its own numbers.
Tell us what you are trying to power, how you power it today and the alternatives you are considering.
Another situation to consider?
You can explore the other journeys and tell us about them in the same enquiry.