Depending on their water needs, farmers can choose between a small solar system with 9.7 kWp or a large system between 14.6 kWp.
The first batch of water pumped with solar power.
Thanks to the hire purchase of the solar system, farmers save money right from the start as they no longer need to purchase expensive fossil fuels.
Our Partner Solar Future advices the farmers

Summary

Total savings :4000 tons CO₂ per year currently (approx. 21 tons CO₂ per PV system per year, continuous expansion)
Technology transfer :remotely monitored off-grid PV systems to power drip irrigation
Local environment :Resource-efficient water management and avoidance of diesel and butane generators
Further advantages :Savings in fuel expenses for farmers, securing of agricultural yields, strengthening climate change adaptability, technology transfer
Project partners :Solar Future S.A.R.L.

Affordable hire purchase programme of PV systems

Thanks to the support of atmosfair, since June 2020 farmers in various rural areas of Morocco are able to run their irrigation pumps, previously powered by fossil fuels, with solar energy. This allows them to manage their farms in a sustainable and climate-friendly way.

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the Moroccan economy and is therefore of great importance for the livelihood of many people in rural areas. However, since many small farms are not connected to the national power grid, farmers here mostly use diesel and butane gas generators to power their irrigation pumps. This pumping system is often combined with an inefficient trench irrigation system, where much water is lost. Such irrigation systems have contributed to the decline of groundwater levels in Morocco, threatening soil fertility. In addition, farmers are heavily dependant on fuel prices and spend a lot of time sourcing these fuels over long distances.

This project offers farmers an alternative to fossil fuel-powered water pumping: a hire purchase of a PV system, which is paid off over a period of 6 years. After payment of all monthly instalments over this time period, the farmers become full owners of the PV systems. Due to the savings in fuel expenses farmers can cover the monthly instalments while saving money on top. The PV systems are managed and monitored remotely by atmosfair’s partner Solar Future. This way, operational issues of the PV systems can quickly be discovered and fixed by Solar Future employees.

Before farmers can start their hire purchase of a PV system, they are required to install an efficient drip irrigation system, a water reservoir and an electric submersible pump by themselves. This investment is eligible for support from the Moroccan government’s programme for sustainable agriculture Plan Maroc Vert, and therefore does not represent a large barrier for farmers. This programme thus enhances the impact of the project beyond the mere replacement of fossil fuels by fostering the introduction of resource-efficient agricultural technologies.

Our partner

Our partner Solar Future has many years of experience in development and implementation of renewable energy projects and special expertise solar PV projects. While the Moroccan branch Solar Future S.A.R.L. is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the PV plants, the German branch Solar Future Maghreb GmbH & Co. KG co-finances the project through the crowd investing platform GreenVesting.com.

Your contact at atmosfair

Mohamed El Maghraby
Project Developer
M.Sc. Renewable Energy Engineering
+49 (0) 30 1208480 - 70