Thoughs on a solar powered well

[EddieWalker]

I have two ponds. One is dry and the other is down six feet and dripping. With winter coming, I'm hopefull that both will fill up, but I've come to the conclusion that I want to drill a well for each pond and add water to them during the summer to keep them as full as possible. I realize that I can't fill them, but if I can slow down the evaporation, I'll be ahead of the game by some degree.

My first thought was a windmill. They are very pricey and I just don't think that I have enough wind to make them practical. I also don't care for how they look, but that is secondary if I thought I could get a significant amount of water from them.

Then I thought about a solar panel. The math on 12 volt pumps makes them pretty much useless. 24 volt might accomplish something if they ran daylight to dark, but still not what I'm hoping for.

If I could find a 220 volt solar panel, or panels, I could put in a submersable pump that would really accomplish something. I'm unsure if they are meant to run all day long, day after day?

My thought is to install the solar panel and wire it right to the pump. No batteries. When the sun is out and the solar cells are generating power, the pump will start pumping water and continue to do so as long as the sun is shining.

Does this make sense? Will it work? What am I missing? Where can I find 220 volt solar cells that will give me the amps to run a submersable pump?

Thank you.

Eddie

 

[nybirdman]

I am not an electrician..but I don't think they make solar cells that put out 220 volts.I friend of mine built a new house totally off the grid...and has a drilled well ,so I know they make something that works.His system is 6000 watts total..quite large.He is away for the winter so I can't ask about his well pump.

 

[RobertN]

Here is a start...

Pumping Water With the Sun | Sierra Solar Systems

Water Pumps

Deep Well Solar Water Pumping System

 

[RobertN]

Eddie, solar panels output DC power. To get 120VAC or 240VAC, and inverter is required. I have 5KW of panels on the roof right now, and a 6KW inverter for later additional capacity.

The system you mention is easily done; see the links I posted above. I would request a copy of the Sierra Solar catalog; they better describe a few different systems in there, that I did not see on their website.

Then I thought about a solar panel. The math on 12 volt pumps makes them pretty much useless. 24 volt might accomplish something if they ran daylight to dark, but still not what I'm hoping for.

If I could find a 220 volt solar panel, or panels, I could put in a submersable pump that would really accomplish something. I'm unsure if they are meant to run all day long, day after day?

My thought is to install the solar panel and wire it right to the pump. No batteries. When the sun is out and the solar cells are generating power, the pump will start pumping water and continue to do so as long as the sun is shining.

Eddie

 

[Jimbrown]

You wil need one heck of a lot of panels to run a AC pump.

My well is all solar. I use a Grunfos 6SQF-3 and get a constant 3 gallons a minute with 240 watts of panels.

If you need more water than that Grunfos has other pumps that will pump considerable more water but you will need around a 1000 watts of panels to do it. You must use a controller you can not hook panels directly to a pump. Well you can but it won't last long.

Look here. These pumps will pump more water than most windmills. The average wind mill only pumps around 5 or 6 gallons a minute.

Grundfos SQFlex Submersible Solar Well Pumps

 

[EddieWalker]

Thank you for the quick replies and links to what I was looking for!!!!!!!

Sounds pretty straight forward, now I just need to start saving some money.

Eddie

 

[zonta223]

Hi Eddie
How far away from your house/mains supply are the ponds?
I have a 3Kw Solar system installed and it supplies most of the power our house needs but it needs to be on grid to get the power rebates.....I know you can get the solar systems to work off grid, but thinking in economic terms would it be better to have the solar panels at your home site and run feed to a pump/pumps to supply water to the ponds. When you were not pumping water you would get "free" electricity for your house ?
Have you got the wells already dug? The savings on one well/one pump could be used to help fund the solar system?
just a thought

 

[Joe H]

Eddie, the Mother Lode of solar info lives here at BuildItSolar: Solar energy projects for Do It Yourselfers to save money and reduce pollution.
He sells nothing, just a web site for solar DIYers.
More info than you can imagine and solar deep water wells are well covered.
Joe H

 

[MtnViewRanch]

All these pumps are just like everything, the more $$$$$ that you spend, the more you get in return. The advantage that the windmills have is that they will pump day and night where as the solar without batteries is a daytime only thing. But then you have to have the windmill in a windy area, if not you have wasted your money.

You can get a 16" mill and if your static water level is 50 feet or so and the supply is great enough, and you have enough wind it will pump over 79,000 gallons a day. But yes an 8' mill with the same circumstances will only pump a little over 15,000 gallons a day.

I have a question for you Eddie, it sounds like you would rather look at solar panels than a windmill? :confused2:

 

[EddieWalker]

zonta,

My place is on a commercial electrical account and I don't qualify for a lot of the rebates that residential locations get.

I haven't drilled the well yet, and have been researching ways to do it myself. My water table isn't very deep, but I'm unusure if I want to try and do it myself or hire it done. From what I can figure, 40 feet should put me into water, so a hundred foot hole should be more then deep enough. That's just my guessing based on holes that I've dug on my land near the creek, and looking at the Topo maps. After a year of no rain, the creek still has water in it, thought it's dry in places and hasn't run in months. The holes, or deep parts of the creek are full. I also dug a hole with my backhoe fairly close to the creek and had water filling into the hole about 5 feet down.

A side note. I'm thinking of putting in a third pond in that location, but it's real low on my list of things to do, and it will be in the quarter acre size if/when I get around to it.

Joe,

Thank you for the link!!!

Eddie

 

[davo727]

Hey Eddie your post is interesting to me, Im trying to research and see if its remotely possible for me to put in my own well.

To start out I am going to get water from the local service that has a water main next to one front corner of my property but would like to have my own well later.

I will build my own darn drilling derrick if I have to!

I have a 86 ford F700 that has a hydraulic pto. I can use the truck to support and power the drill.

I have no intention of paying 5 or 6 thousand dollars for a well.

The soil is very sandy here and I need to see if I can find out info on well depths here. Elevation is 250 ft above sea level.

 

[TheGoose]

PM Sent.