Electric tractor propelled by renewable energy for small-scale family farming

Family farming is in many parts of the world still a significant factor in food production. However, farms in underdeveloped regions often lack the appropriate means to carry out agricultural activities in accordance with the state of the art, i.e. with the help of motorized machinery. On the other hand, especially in tropical regions, they generally own a reliable renewable energy source, principally in the form of solar radiation. In an effort to help to improve the returns of farming in an environmentally acceptable way, the project's objective is to investigate the feasibility of a small size electric farming tractor, which shall be able to use locally generated renewable energy. The crucial technical challenge is (as with other electric vehicles) to store sufficient electrical energy on the tractor for an extension of its operating time. On the other hand, economic competitiveness with comparable combustion engine tractors is a prerequisite for the project's success. Consequently, the project investigates an electric tractor system using alternative technical solutions in order to extend the operating time to a maximum and to compare the tractor's tractive power and its hourly operating cost to a combustion engine tractor of a similar power rating. To this end, an electric prototype tractor in conjunction with an appropriate electric generation, storage and transmission system are considered within this work.