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Solar water pump
- Thread starter Richardd
- Start date
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sandhiller
Well-known member
I have no experience with that company. Couldn't tell what kind of pump they use.
loranze and grudfos pumps been good. Dealer i got mine from, went to selling sunroter pumps. (I think that is different from sun pumps) If a very deep well, you want a heical roter pump, so that it will pump some when cloudy and pump is running slow. I would stay away from diaphragm pumps, unless you like pulling pumps to work on them.
my only experience has been with a loranze pump. Everybody needs at least one solar powered pump in every pasture that depends on windmills.
on a hot sunny day when the cows are real thirsty, a solar pump is pumping full speed. Cloudy day when cows not drinking as much, if sized right, it is still pumping.
Just make sure that you get a big enough system to pump the gallons a day you need. I have known of dealers to sell to small of system. Then the rancher isn't happy. If comparing prices, watch the total watts of solar panels they are quoting you. One local well driller that sells lots of systems, couldn't even tell me on the phone, how many watts the panels he was selling put out.
Would you buy a 5 horse power engine, if you needed a 100 hp engine? One cylinder or 8 cylinder don't tell much. Neither does 2 or 6 panels. You need to know watts, but more so, gallons per day expected from the depth of water level of your well.
I have personal experience from running a pump jack on a windmill that broke, where cow calf pairs were drinking 50 gallons a day over a 2 week period. They were drinking more than a thirty foot tank full every other day for 100 pair.
That is a lot more than the nrcs says they drink. Some people complain of solar pumps, pumping to much, so it may be a good idea to install a float switch for those days cows are drinking less. Some pumps have a adjustment to have it pump slower if you want.
loranze and grudfos pumps been good. Dealer i got mine from, went to selling sunroter pumps. (I think that is different from sun pumps) If a very deep well, you want a heical roter pump, so that it will pump some when cloudy and pump is running slow. I would stay away from diaphragm pumps, unless you like pulling pumps to work on them.
my only experience has been with a loranze pump. Everybody needs at least one solar powered pump in every pasture that depends on windmills.
on a hot sunny day when the cows are real thirsty, a solar pump is pumping full speed. Cloudy day when cows not drinking as much, if sized right, it is still pumping.
Just make sure that you get a big enough system to pump the gallons a day you need. I have known of dealers to sell to small of system. Then the rancher isn't happy. If comparing prices, watch the total watts of solar panels they are quoting you. One local well driller that sells lots of systems, couldn't even tell me on the phone, how many watts the panels he was selling put out.
Would you buy a 5 horse power engine, if you needed a 100 hp engine? One cylinder or 8 cylinder don't tell much. Neither does 2 or 6 panels. You need to know watts, but more so, gallons per day expected from the depth of water level of your well.
I have personal experience from running a pump jack on a windmill that broke, where cow calf pairs were drinking 50 gallons a day over a 2 week period. They were drinking more than a thirty foot tank full every other day for 100 pair.
That is a lot more than the nrcs says they drink. Some people complain of solar pumps, pumping to much, so it may be a good idea to install a float switch for those days cows are drinking less. Some pumps have a adjustment to have it pump slower if you want.
Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
I think that fellow from California was on here maybe late last summer was getting his system from Rural Power Systems. To bad I can't remember his name, maybe he will see this and give us an update.
Big Muddy,
Yep, that is where I got the information from. Was hoping he would see my posting and reply as to how it is doing.
Have a neighbor that wants to replace his windmill with solar.
Looing at getting a solar myself.
Sandhiller:
You are right on the total wattage of the panels. From what I read, Rural Power Systems over size the panels for the pumps for the reason you gave.
Thank to both of you.
Yep, that is where I got the information from. Was hoping he would see my posting and reply as to how it is doing.
Have a neighbor that wants to replace his windmill with solar.
Looing at getting a solar myself.
Sandhiller:
You are right on the total wattage of the panels. From what I read, Rural Power Systems over size the panels for the pumps for the reason you gave.
Thank to both of you.
sandhiller
Well-known member
With the price of panels now slightly under $1 per watt, it don't cost much more to add some extra panels. Worst part is, depending on the pump, voltage may get to high so you would have to parallel a second set.
Had a neighbor who was always out of water in his summer pasture. He was always trying to haul water in his pickup. I knew he had well problems. I told him when he had the pipe out, he should put a electric pump under the cylinder, so he could fill the tank with a generator when the windmill got behind. He hadn't thought of that, but did do it. The next year, his calves were noticeably bigger.
My solar pump water level is about 250 ft deep. Almost always has the tank running over in the afternoon with 100+ pair on it. What is that worth on the days other guys are moving cattle to different pastures to get enough water. And the calves are following their mothers away from the tank with out getting filled up. A lot of guys have the now have the pumps under the cylinder to run with a generator, but still gota haul gas. Would guess that in the very near future, there won't be many windmills watering cattle. In the last year, I have been amazed at the number of people that now have a least one solar well in each pasture.
Quite a few are mounting their panels on trailers, so they can move them as they move cows. A local will driller even has made some solar panel trailers that have a reel on the back to put the pump down on a hose, then real it up and take it to the next pasture.
A neighbor moves his trailer to a shallow well in his calving lot. Says it is pumping even on real cloudy days, as his panels are sized for deep wells in summer pasture.
I am planning on bringing my panels in and hooking them on my home system in the off seasons.
Others are putting in pipe lines from where there is electricity. Some of those guys have several hundred head of cattle drinking only off one several mile long pipeline. I wonder what they will do when they find a problem with the pump or pipeline the evening before a holiday!
I do have a couple of places i have bought solar stuff, if you are interested.
Might get a comparison to others.
I bought a pallet of panels & shared with two other guys. Quite a lot cheaper that way because of freight.
Had a neighbor who was always out of water in his summer pasture. He was always trying to haul water in his pickup. I knew he had well problems. I told him when he had the pipe out, he should put a electric pump under the cylinder, so he could fill the tank with a generator when the windmill got behind. He hadn't thought of that, but did do it. The next year, his calves were noticeably bigger.
My solar pump water level is about 250 ft deep. Almost always has the tank running over in the afternoon with 100+ pair on it. What is that worth on the days other guys are moving cattle to different pastures to get enough water. And the calves are following their mothers away from the tank with out getting filled up. A lot of guys have the now have the pumps under the cylinder to run with a generator, but still gota haul gas. Would guess that in the very near future, there won't be many windmills watering cattle. In the last year, I have been amazed at the number of people that now have a least one solar well in each pasture.
Quite a few are mounting their panels on trailers, so they can move them as they move cows. A local will driller even has made some solar panel trailers that have a reel on the back to put the pump down on a hose, then real it up and take it to the next pasture.
A neighbor moves his trailer to a shallow well in his calving lot. Says it is pumping even on real cloudy days, as his panels are sized for deep wells in summer pasture.
I am planning on bringing my panels in and hooking them on my home system in the off seasons.
Others are putting in pipe lines from where there is electricity. Some of those guys have several hundred head of cattle drinking only off one several mile long pipeline. I wonder what they will do when they find a problem with the pump or pipeline the evening before a holiday!
I do have a couple of places i have bought solar stuff, if you are interested.
Might get a comparison to others.
I bought a pallet of panels & shared with two other guys. Quite a lot cheaper that way because of freight.
Sandhlller:
Sounds like you have experience with solar pumps.
I am looking at a rotary pump. Our water table lets us put a pump down around 80 ft or so.
Down here in South Texas we have plenty of Sunshine.
I have a 7400 gallon storage tank I will be pumping into. It is a cylinder 9 ft x 15 ft. Will be standing it on its end. From what I figure 6.5 +- psi head pressure when the tank is full, dropping .433 psi per ft as the tank empties.
I will have 41+- psi head pressure on the pump at full tank, less while filling as I will fill from the bottom.
I am open to any information on where to buy the stuff so as to compare product and prices.
Also open to any more information anyone has.
Sounds like you have experience with solar pumps.
I am looking at a rotary pump. Our water table lets us put a pump down around 80 ft or so.
Down here in South Texas we have plenty of Sunshine.
I have a 7400 gallon storage tank I will be pumping into. It is a cylinder 9 ft x 15 ft. Will be standing it on its end. From what I figure 6.5 +- psi head pressure when the tank is full, dropping .433 psi per ft as the tank empties.
I will have 41+- psi head pressure on the pump at full tank, less while filling as I will fill from the bottom.
I am open to any information on where to buy the stuff so as to compare product and prices.
Also open to any more information anyone has.
sandhiller
Well-known member
This is the panels I recently bought. I bought a pallet, and the price per panel, including shipping, was about what is listed here. They seemed like really good people to work with. The do not handle sunrotor pumps. they may have sun pumps, but don't think I want that kind of pump. I would definitely do business with them again. The e-mailed me after I got the panels, to make sure everything was ok.
http://www.civicsolar.com/product/canadian-solar-maxpower-cs6x-305p-305w-poly-slvwht-1000v-solar-panel
==========================================
Sun rotor, loranze , and grunfoss all have Helical Rotor Submersible Solar Pumps. The helical rotor pumps are a constant displacement pump, that will begin pumping at a slow speed, when there is some sun, then speed up as more sun hits the panels.
with your shallow well, you may be able to consider some other pumps. When you call about pumps, you need to know how many gallons of water a day you want. Here, I would want close to 50 gallons per cow calf pair a day. May get buy with less, if you don't mind being short of water on occasions.
If there is any chance of your well getting short on water, you need to buy a water level sensor that goes in the well to shut the pump off if water level gets down to the pump level.
Some people around here like the grunfoss pumps, because they can be hooked directly to a generator without buying a separate converter box. My local cost is about double of the price on the sunrotor pump, and I have never used my converter box since I got my solar panels mounted.
All these pumps are maximum power point tracking, which means they will make the maximum use of the voltage and amps the panels are providing.
============================================================
These people seemed to good to deal with. Prices were good, but anything truck freight, their freight rates were really high, so prices on panels did not work. I did buy other stuff from them.
The pump came ups. UPS fright from them didn't seem so bad.
This is the pump I bought for my brother, we have not got it installed yet.
http://altestore.com/
http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Water-Pumps/Submersible-Solar-Pumps/SunRotor-Submersible-Pumps/SunRotor-SR-12-Submersible-Pump-with-M200T-Controller/p11435/
=================================================
I did not order a rack to put the panels on. Freight came in to high. I am making my own ground mount rack.
My brother ordered a top of pole rack from a local well guy for a better price than I found shipped in. Seems like the online places were shipping racks from a place they are made in New Mexico, so freight may be better for you, than me.
==============================
this is the place I got my first solar well pump & panels from. They were good to work with, just didn't seem to have as good of prices.
They no longer handle the loranze pumps, and seems like they may be the source of the sunrotor pumps, but not the best price on them. They are a bit closer to you, so that may be a consideration.
When I bought my system from them, I had a problem. called them and asked how to check it out. It got to be well after business hours, so I did not call them when I got done checking. Minutes later, they called me to see what I found, even though it was well after their closing time.
http://www.solarpowerandpump.com/
==============================
Most of the newer panels come with some plug together connectors on them. they are long enough to connect to the next panel in series. you would also need 2 wires with the same ends to go to the pump controller. the sunrotor pump control box came with those plugs installed, so I can just plug in the wires, and the panels are hooked up the the pump box.
Be aware that depending on the maximum voltage of the pump, a larger system may have to have a additional string of panels in parallel. I believe the sun rotor sr12 can handle 4 panels @ 24 volts in series, some pumps can not have that much voltage.
=============================================
There may be other places that are better than what I found.
well guys around here seemed to be using 12 volt panels. 12 volt panels cost a lot more per watt than 24 volt panels
http://www.civicsolar.com/product/canadian-solar-maxpower-cs6x-305p-305w-poly-slvwht-1000v-solar-panel
==========================================
Sun rotor, loranze , and grunfoss all have Helical Rotor Submersible Solar Pumps. The helical rotor pumps are a constant displacement pump, that will begin pumping at a slow speed, when there is some sun, then speed up as more sun hits the panels.
with your shallow well, you may be able to consider some other pumps. When you call about pumps, you need to know how many gallons of water a day you want. Here, I would want close to 50 gallons per cow calf pair a day. May get buy with less, if you don't mind being short of water on occasions.
If there is any chance of your well getting short on water, you need to buy a water level sensor that goes in the well to shut the pump off if water level gets down to the pump level.
Some people around here like the grunfoss pumps, because they can be hooked directly to a generator without buying a separate converter box. My local cost is about double of the price on the sunrotor pump, and I have never used my converter box since I got my solar panels mounted.
All these pumps are maximum power point tracking, which means they will make the maximum use of the voltage and amps the panels are providing.
============================================================
These people seemed to good to deal with. Prices were good, but anything truck freight, their freight rates were really high, so prices on panels did not work. I did buy other stuff from them.
The pump came ups. UPS fright from them didn't seem so bad.
This is the pump I bought for my brother, we have not got it installed yet.
http://altestore.com/
http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Water-Pumps/Submersible-Solar-Pumps/SunRotor-Submersible-Pumps/SunRotor-SR-12-Submersible-Pump-with-M200T-Controller/p11435/
=================================================
I did not order a rack to put the panels on. Freight came in to high. I am making my own ground mount rack.
My brother ordered a top of pole rack from a local well guy for a better price than I found shipped in. Seems like the online places were shipping racks from a place they are made in New Mexico, so freight may be better for you, than me.
==============================
this is the place I got my first solar well pump & panels from. They were good to work with, just didn't seem to have as good of prices.
They no longer handle the loranze pumps, and seems like they may be the source of the sunrotor pumps, but not the best price on them. They are a bit closer to you, so that may be a consideration.
When I bought my system from them, I had a problem. called them and asked how to check it out. It got to be well after business hours, so I did not call them when I got done checking. Minutes later, they called me to see what I found, even though it was well after their closing time.
http://www.solarpowerandpump.com/
==============================
Most of the newer panels come with some plug together connectors on them. they are long enough to connect to the next panel in series. you would also need 2 wires with the same ends to go to the pump controller. the sunrotor pump control box came with those plugs installed, so I can just plug in the wires, and the panels are hooked up the the pump box.
Be aware that depending on the maximum voltage of the pump, a larger system may have to have a additional string of panels in parallel. I believe the sun rotor sr12 can handle 4 panels @ 24 volts in series, some pumps can not have that much voltage.
=============================================
There may be other places that are better than what I found.
well guys around here seemed to be using 12 volt panels. 12 volt panels cost a lot more per watt than 24 volt panels