CoolVFD News provides you with cutting-edge information to help you operate as efficiently as you can with the resources that are available to you. Check out the articles below to see how you could be saving thousands of dollars every year by retrograding your system with a variable frequency drive, and if you qualify for a REAP grant or loan which can cover 25% of your upgrade expenses.
Unfortunately, many irrigation systems are inefficient which adds to costs. Even a 10% decrease in an irrigation system's efficiency may cost thousands of extra dollars spent needlessly each year. Sometimes over 50% of the water delivered through the systems does not benefit the crop or your bottom line.
Many motors driving various equipment operate at a constant speed. To control the amount of work the motor is providing at any given time, devices are used to reduce the machine's output through artificial loading. Examples include outlet valves or dampers, which restrict output to decrease the flow rate to a desired level for the system, or a bypass loop which simply diverts the fluid. In some cases, the machine runs at a higher speed than is necessary to do the job. All these attempts essentially waste energy.
Through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development helps finance the cost of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements for rural small businesses and agricultural producers.