Solar water systems

[cowsense]

It's beginning to look grim for water supplies this year......little snow & no runoff. We're looking into solar pumping setups for our dugouts and would appreciate any feedback on systems that you are familiar with. We do have some cows on a pipeline system & realize the value of clean fresh water pumped into troughs.
There's quite a few solar distributers with prices running from reasonable to outrageous, but it is hard to compare hardware (control boxes) & pumps from one to the other. Ideally we want a reliabile, quality setup at an economy price as we will need several units.
BTW I tried to check RSL's website & couldn't get past the home page.....is something broke Sean?? :lol:

 

[flyingS]

I really like Grundfos pumps and boxes. They are pretty reliable, their warranty service is great, and you can run them off of a 110 volt generator if it is cloudy.

 

[RSL]

It's beginning to look grim for water supplies this year......little snow & no runoff. We're looking into solar pumping setups for our dugouts and would appreciate any feedback on systems that you are familiar with. We do have some cows on a pipeline system & realize the value of clean fresh water pumped into troughs.
There's quite a few solar distributers with prices running from reasonable to outrageous, but it is hard to compare hardware (control boxes) & pumps from one to the other. Ideally we want a reliabile, quality setup at an economy price as we will need several units.
BTW I tried to check RSL's website & couldn't get past the home page.....is something broke Sean?? :lol:

It was working yesterday...
try http://roundrock.ranchingsystems.com/water_pumping.html
Also if you PM me I can give you Rick Toney's number. He is outside of Speedy Creek and has very reasonable prices.
The professionally produced versions require less frigging around in comparison to the first DIY versions, but you pay for the expertise.

 

[per]

I really like Grundfos pumps and boxes. They are pretty reliable, their warranty service is great, and you can run them off of a 110 volt generator if it is cloudy.

FlyingS gave the advise I would give. These pumps are amazing being able to recognize and us both AC an DC power of different voltages.

 

[marksmu]

It's beginning to look grim for water supplies this year......little snow & no runoff. We're looking into solar pumping setups for our dugouts and would appreciate any feedback on systems that you are familiar with. We do have some cows on a pipeline system & realize the value of clean fresh water pumped into troughs.
There's quite a few solar distributers with prices running from reasonable to outrageous, but it is hard to compare hardware (control boxes) & pumps from one to the other. Ideally we want a reliabile, quality setup at an economy price as we will need several units.
BTW I tried to check RSL's website & couldn't get past the home page.....is something broke Sean?? :lol:

I am down in South East Texas, and we usually water off a canal system that is always flowing....since Hurricane IKE the water gates that keep salt water intrusion from entering destroyed that we had no water.

I installed a solar well and a large tank to water the cattle and use graviy to move the water from pasture to pasture. We went with a Grundfos pump and pump controller, a float switch, and 3 panels. We get about 13 gallons per minute out of the pump, and it starts pumping slowly when the sun peaks over the horizon and shuts off at dusk.

I can tell you the entire system cost us $4941 for the panels, pump, controller and float switch. Having the well drilled/completed cost us another $4,657.

So the entire idea is not cheap at all, but it works great. Well drilling is highly variable though dependent on depth...Our quotes ranged from $2000 to $12,000. We ended up at $4,657 b/c we had to go 200' deeper than we expected to hit good sand.

 

[Liveoak]

I really like Grundfos pumps and boxes. They are pretty reliable, their warranty service is great, and you can run them off of a 110 volt generator if it is cloudy.

FlyingS gave the advise I would give. These pumps are amazing being able to recognize and us both AC an DC power of different voltages.

I have used Grundfos too and it's a nice system. You could buy the pump and controllers from them and shop the solar panels to get the best deal. Installation is DIY easy. Mounting a cistern up high would give you gravity feed. Install a float in the cistern to turn on or shutoff the pump when the cistern is full. Mine was rigged to run off a gas generator whenever it was overcast.

 

[Northern Rancher]

My buddy in Montana has huge troughs-I think they aremade out of quonset rings-they'll hold enough water for a week. It might be just as easy to get a three inch pump and pump things full once a week or when you check. A solar system needs to be checked daily!!