Posted: 5/16/2010 1:55:19 PM EDT
I've got a 110' deep well on my property. The house is on county water but I want to get the well set up for shtf or whatever. Right now there is not a pump in the well, it broke and I took it out. The house is still connected to the well, all I need to do is open up a valve and the well will provide water to the house. What would I need to run the well on a solar panel? I know ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING about solar panels or well pumps. HELP!!!!! 
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Since I have not done this, and there are a lot of variables, don't take the following as gospel:
Depending on how big a well pump you need (how many horsepower it's rated for), it's possible that your pump will draw somewhere in the range of 2 kilowatts to three kilowatts while it is running, and even more than that in order to get the pump started. So, you will want to design the system to at least provide enough power (kilowatts) to start and run the pump. That's not do-able with a trivial solar power system. Note that "power" is only part of the story - you need to consider "energy storage" (kilowatt hour) capacity as well - requiring that you have battery backup capacity for the solar power system to not only provide for the expected total daily run/cycle-time of the pump, but also need to figure in reserve capacity for when the sun is either not shining at all, or when the available solar power is low (for example, winter time). Also figure in loss of efficiency in the system. IMHO you are going to have to plan a fairly substantial (and expensive) system to give you reliable off-grid power for your well pump. Now, you may be able to get away with less capacity (and expense) if you can set some acceptable limits around your usage of the pump, choose a pump that is smaller than the size that you would normally install based on the size of your house and/or number of people using water, pump and store the pumped water when the sun is shining, conserve water to a greater extent than you normally would, and so forth. Some time ago I was looking at power requirements for running my well pump off of my portable emergency gasoline-powered generator (along with running other important electrical loads), and discovered that in order to ensure that I could reliably start and run the pump while other loads were drawing power, it was necessary for me to "super-size" the generator (because well pumps can have substantial power requirements compared with most other loads)... |
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http://www.bisonpumps.com/
a deep well hand pump may be a less expensive option. it would require human power, but reliable. i believe fordguy has installed one of these. maybe he can give a review. |
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If you want to do this, this is the easiest way I know. It's not cheap but will work.
Drop a low flow DC pump into the well. Connect it to a solar panel. It will pump when the sun is shining at a low rate. Install a LARGE water tank. Think 1000 gallons +. 2-3000 would be better. The DC pump will fill the larger tank at maybe 20-60 gallons per hour. With 5 hrs of useable sun (est) it would keep that larger tank full. Install a float valve on the large tank to shut off the pump when it's full. Might have to connect the DC pump to the battery that runs the pressure pump. Feel the water line into the house. In the house, install a DC pressure pump. Connect it to a deep cycle battery and keep the battery charged with a solar panel or two. After the DC pump, install a large pressure tank. Think 220 gallon tank. Now that will not give you 220 gallons of useable pressurized water. More like 30-35 gallons before the pressure pump will have to turn on. Then plumb your house normally. Basically, the low flow DC pump will slowly keep the water level full in the big tank. It'll pump slowly but all the time. The DC pressure pump will keep the pressure up in the house and the pressure tank will keep the DC pump from turning on constantly...thus providing a buffer. Might also consider a higher flowing AC pump in the well just in case you ever need a higher flow rate (fire and garden watering come to mind) |
| I have one that is seperate from the main well. Guy i bought house from was a farmer who used it to irrigate. wrong word. he used it to fill livestock water tubs.I use it to water yard and garden. It was all one piece he said. Pretty much just put down the hole. The solar panel is connected to the bladder tank. I have been planning to tie it in to the house somewhere. But, im on another deepwell with three pumps. I can just cut to the submersable and run off genset if shtf |
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Quoted:
Drop a low flow DC pump into the well. Connect it to a solar panel. It will pump when the sun is shining at a low rate. The DC pump will fill the larger tank at maybe 20-60 gallons per hour. would you link to a low flow DC pump that will draw only several hundred watts from a solar panel but pump 0.3 to 1 GPM at a head of 150 feet? ar-jedi |
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http://www.bisonpumps.com/ a deep well hand pump may be a less expensive option. it would require human power, but reliable. at 100 foot well depth, a Bison hand pump setup will run you close to if not over $2K. for $2K you can buy a diesel generator *and* 100 gallons of diesel. if you run the generator 3 times a day for 15 minutes to shower/cook/replenish/whatever, that 100 gallons should last you about 3-6 months. ar-jedi |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Drop a low flow DC pump into the well. Connect it to a solar panel. It will pump when the sun is shining at a low rate. The DC pump will fill the larger tank at maybe 20-60 gallons per hour. would you link to a low flow DC pump that will draw only several hundred watts from a solar panel but pump 0.3 to 1 GPM at a head of 150 feet? ar-jedi http://store.solar-electric.com/grsqpu.html http://store.solar-electric.com/sds-d-128.html |
| Start working on finding a well company that will install it. After giving me the run-a-round for over a month, a local well company said their owner didn't want them to do the work. Another I contacted, had never heard of a hand deep well pump and said they were only "ornamental". I told here the hardware exists and pointed here to survivalunlimited for info. She was surprised, even though they install "gas piston" welll pumps for local Amish. Kind of disapointed in all these people, including the Amish. |
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Northern Tool has a solar water pump set up in a kit form. Looks to have everything but a back up battery. Looks fairly simple, but I have never done it, so not too sure. stasiman I looked on their website but I can't find it. I looked on their web site as well, and did not find it. I did find it in their printed catalog which I misplaced (or loaned out) so I can't look up specifics. If you go to their site, you can order a catalog, which lists a lot of stuff that is not in their on-line pages. There is a huge section on alternative energy products. stasiman |
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http://www.survivalunlimited.com/waterpumps/sppricelist.htm
Bucket pumps for deep wells. They sell a solar powered kit too. |
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Quoted:
http://www.bisonpumps.com/ a deep well hand pump may be a less expensive option. it would require human power, but reliable. i believe fordguy has installed one of these. maybe he can give a review. Ford Guy's Archived Thread |
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Quoted:
Since I have not done this, and there are a lot of variables, don't take the following as gospel: Depending on how big a well pump you need (how many horsepower it's rated for), it's possible that your pump will draw somewhere in the range of 2 kilowatts to three kilowatts while it is running, and even more than that in order to get the pump started. So, you will want to design the system to at least provide enough power (kilowatts) to start and run the pump. That's not do-able with a trivial solar power system. Note that "power" is only part of the story - you need to consider "energy storage" (kilowatt hour) capacity as well - requiring that you have battery backup capacity for the solar power system to not only provide for the expected total daily run/cycle-time of the pump, but also need to figure in reserve capacity for when the sun is either not shining at all, or when the available solar power is low (for example, winter time). Also figure in loss of efficiency in the system. IMHO you are going to have to plan a fairly substantial (and expensive) system to give you reliable off-grid power for your well pump. Now, you may be able to get away with less capacity (and expense) if you can set some acceptable limits around your usage of the pump, choose a pump that is smaller than the size that you would normally install based on the size of your house and/or number of people using water, pump and store the pumped water when the sun is shining, conserve water to a greater extent than you normally would, and so forth. Some time ago I was looking at power requirements for running my well pump off of my portable emergency gasoline-powered generator (along with running other important electrical loads), and discovered that in order to ensure that I could reliably start and run the pump while other loads were drawing power, it was necessary for me to "super-size" the generator (because well pumps can have substantial power requirements compared with most other loads)... This is good advice. If you don't want the pump running at night, store the water first in a 5000 gallon tank. This gives you a reserve in the event of a pump failure, but it can refill itself everyday when the sun is shining. |