How about just a 'little bit' of Solar?

[Overwatch]

What if I wanted enough solar panel/battery to permanently power my well pump? Where would I start looking?

I live in a rural county. The water for my house is from a deep well on the property. The pump in my well is made by Grundfos. I would like to have water, even when the power is out -- How would I go about transitioning my well pump, not the whole house, to a solar system.

Where would I start?

 

[Spudgunr]

What if I wanted enough solar panel/battery to permanently power my well pump? Where would I start looking?

I live in a rural county. The water for my house is from a deep well on the property. The pump in my well is made by Grundfos. I would like to have water, even when the power is out -- How would I go about transitioning my well pump, not the whole house, to a solar system.

Where would I start?

I think you would either start by bending over.... or by getting a low flow pump that pumps to a tank, best if it is DC so you can bypass the inverter entirely, but a small 1/2hp 120v or less can be powered by a reasonably priced inverter (for some amount of time). The reason for the bending over... well pumps are usually 240 volt so the inverter for that automatically is $$$. Depending on the current draw of a normal well pump you could need 4 golf cart batteries, if you have a small pump you may get by with just 2 GC2 golf cart batteries and a $100 inverter, plus whatever panels you may need and a 30 amp charge controller (another $100ish?). If you start off with the small pump you could probably get by for under $700 or so ($200 for 2 gc2, $100 inverter, $100 charge controller, leaving $300 for around 250W of solar. In winter that still wont provide a lot of output though, but enough for some amount of water anyway.

To give you an idea, for a 240v inverter I think you are starting at $400 or so, or you can get a transformer to turn 120v into 240v, the power ranges you are interested in will run $300+ too.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

The existing pump in your well is either a 120v or 240v, like Spud said. If you gear up to use that, you'll need a pretty pricey set-up solarwise.

If you could find a 12v pump that would fit your needs, they you'd get away with a lot less in terms of batteries and panels, but I'm not sure you would find a 12v pump that would do the job.

I fitted my own well up with a separate drop line that can connect to a hand-pump, just in case.

 

[shibumiseeker]

You need a 48v dc well pump. As has been said, anything else is going to be very expensive ($4-5k).

With anything 120-240 the size of inverter and battery bank you need is the primary cost. You are looking at $2k just for the inverter.

 

[smokingman]

I am going to disagree with most who have posted.

We have a deep well pump(83 feet) that is 110V and 6.5 amps.
That is equivalent to a 715Watt inverter with 65.78 amps DC at 12V.(great tool BatteryStuff Tools | AC to DC Amperage Calclator Through An Inverter )

Go higher.A 900 watt inverter(Power Bright 12 Volt DC to AC 900 Watt Power Inverter-PW900-12 at The Home Depot) with two 31 series batteries,wired in parallel.(Super Start® Marine 31DCM - Deep Cycle Battery | O'Reilly Auto Parts) providing 1110 amps.


100 watt solar panel with charge controller.Grape Solar 100-Watt Polycrystalline Solar Panel for RV's, Boats and 12-Volt Systems-GS-Star-100W at The Home Depot

Kill your power to the well.In a DRY location prior to your circuit breaker cut the line.Wire in Leviton 15 Amp 125-Volt Rubber Grounding Plug-R60-515PR-000 at The Home Depot and Pass & Seymour 15 Amp 125-Volt Armored Connector-PS515CACC10 at The Home Depot This will allow you to disconnect your well from your circuit breaker box,and prevent any back feed to the grid(this is the same set up many use to power a furnace with a generator).You want the female end on the well side.From there you can run a cord from your inverter to power your pump.

Total cost around $400.00

The 100 watt solar panel will not provide enough electricity to run a pump full time and you will want to shut down the inverter when you are not pumping water to save your batteries.
That said it should provide enough power daily to run your pump for awhile and provide you with plenty of water.Check the charge on your batteries,if you are draining them to low give them another day of charging and or lesson the amount of time you are running the pump.

I would build an out door ventilated box for the batteries(hydrogen build up) and to mount the panels on.From that I would run wiring to my inverter inside near my connections.

*I am not an electrician.I am fairly certain none of this would pass code standards.That said it would allow use of a well without the grid.

 

[Spudgunr]

I looked up our solar hours, average is 4 hours per day, more importantly though, summer is about 5 hours and winter is about 2 hours. You will need to know the needs of your pump (from my research on this topic for sump pumps, there are HUGE differences in efficiencies for the same horsepower) and also how much water you are desiring. Are you wanting enough to not die? If thats the case, a hand pump may be a good idea too. If you are wanting to run the house though, 2 solar hours in winter means you are only going to be able to run the pump about 15 minutes a day (using the 100 watt panel and the 6.5 amp pump from smokingman, doing some efficiencies and rounding), that is not a lot. That is assuming the sun is out too, so I think you'll want to either up-size the solar, or make some provisions for recharging from your car or a generator.

With a charge controller on the solar panel, you should be able to hook your car battery up to the system while the car is running, that should push the car's voltage high enough that the charge controller will pass the electricity through. If the car gets shut off for some reason, the voltage will drop (your alternator pushes it up to 14.5 or so, when not running system voltage will be very close to 12v) and the charge controller will stop passing through the electricity, keeping from killing your car battery.

Before you go buy all the stuff, know what your startup amps are on your pump and approximately how long that will go for and compare it to your inverter's specs. I bought this whistler inverter, they provide the surge capacity for 10 seconds, most inverters do that for 1-2 seconds. I have not tried it out on my sump pump yet though. One way to get an IDEA of the startup amps is to find the LRA (locked rotor amps) of your motor, this is when the bearings die or the rotor gets jammed, thats how much power the pump will draw. The pump will start around the LRA and drop as it gets up to speed. LRA is usually on the motor itself, so hopefully you know the model of your pump so you can look it up? Or if you can buy / borrow a clamp on ammeter that can tell you the peak amps, you can find out experimentall.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I am going to disagree with most who have posted.

We have a deep well pump(83 feet) that is 110V and 6.5 amps.
That is equivalent to a 715Watt inverter with 65.78 amps DC at 12V.(great tool BatteryStuff Tools | AC to DC Amperage Calclator Through An Inverter )

And your practical experience with these is exactly what?

I flat out guarantee you that this inverter will NOT power your well pump, and moreover, inverters of that type and quality WILL burn out in very short order if they could even begin to do the job.

And yes, I AM a professional.

TAANSTAFL

 

[Overwatch]

The existing pump in your well is either a 120v or 240v, like Spud said. If you gear up to use that, you'll need a pretty pricey set-up solarwise.

My well is 280 feet deep. My Pump is submerged at the bottom of the bore. It is very long and skinny. I think it is a 5hp Grundfos. We replaced it last year and it was not cheap ($1800 -- that hurt). PSI is controlled by an electronic unit with an air tank in the utility room. Without researching more, that is about as much as I know about the pump.

I don't want to sound all 'daddy warbucks', because we aren't; but price doesn't matter. I want good value, but I want to do this right. I can find $2000 bucks if that's what it takes for an inverter. This is my home and an independent water supply is a really big deal to me.

I am looking to have system that doesn't even necessarily tie-in. But I want to have enough battery and panel capacity to provide service, even in winter months. I want water, as much as I want any time of the year. I am willing to pay for it.

...so, questions:

1. Does the $2000 inverter work for other solar panels and batteries I might want to add? Like, I only buy one inverter, ever and it is enough to scale the systems? Do I want to buy a 'bigger' inverter so I can add to the system in years to come, if I choose to?

2. Is it smarter to piece these components together myself, or do I really want to hire a solar firm? In other words, is this a DIY project?

3. Is there a Solar provider in Central Indiana that is recommended to speak with -- preferably one who is one of those prepper whack-jobs, like me?

 

[shibumiseeker]

1. A. yes. B. An inverter large enough to run a 5hp well pump will run much of your house. The good quality ones are stackable. The big expense here is going to be the battery bank, and it is an ongoing expense, hence my recommendation for a 48v dc pump, it makes the system KISS. But I have designed systems for people in just about any configuration you can imagine. Sometimes they even listen to the advice they paid me for. The folks who tell you that whatever you can get from Harbor Freight is going to be just as good are just wasting your time and money. When I ran my consulting business, a site visit, system design, and contractor recommendations for a small project like that would run a couple hundred bucks.

2. If you are willing to do the research, yes. Compared to a decade ago (or 25 years ago when I started) much of it is more plug n play now than it used to be, but it still requires a good bit of learning. There are a LOT more online resources for this sort of thing and the reputable alternative energy dealers have a lot of good basic guides now (not like other things where it's mostly snake oil)

3. There is, I don't have the contact information handy, but I can make a couple of recommendations later if you need.

 

[churchmouse]

Get a good genny. Wire it in to your house panel with the proper switch gear. Enjoy power all the time. It will be far cheaper than the solar you think will be free power. It ain't free. Well, the sun is free when it shines. Gathering up and using the sun is dumb expensive,

 

[shibumiseeker]

Get a good genny. Wire it in to your house panel with the proper switch gear. Enjoy power all the time. It will be far cheaper than the solar you think will be free power. It ain't free. Well, the sun is free when it shines. Gathering up and using the sun is dumb expensive,

The advice I usually give people who ask the question the OP asked is similar, but I add: also upgrade to a much larger pressure tank (or multiple tanks) so you can run the generator once a day for an hour or so, fill the pressure tanks, charge stuff that can be charged, run the fridge and freezer, and then shut down to save fuel.

This is MUCH cheaper in the intermediate term (6 months to a year) than putting in an AE system.

 

[SmileDocHill]

The advice I usually give people who ask the question the OP asked is similar, but I add: also upgrade to a much larger pressure tank (or multiple tanks) so you can run the generator once a day for an hour or so, fill the pressure tanks, charge stuff that can be charged, run the fridge and freezer, and then shut down to save fuel.

This is MUCH cheaper in the intermediate term (6 months to a year) than putting in an AE system.

Ae is alternative energy?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Ae is alternative energy?

Yep.

 

[Paul30]

Solar is free quiet power although slow charging unless you invest in an expensive and large solar cells on the roof. I prefer solar for an auxiliary charger and something more substantial for real power. A small Honda 2000 generator will run a long time (up to 20 hours with a light load) on one gallon of gas and is very quiet so as not to disturb the neighbors. I always wanted to convert an exercise bicycle into a generator setup. You have a stable bike to ride, and you are charging batteries. I know this is burning calories, but in some situations you may have cabin fever in the winter and need the exercise anyway. People could take shifts riding a short amount of time and charge a battery while getting a little exercise. Whatever you do, make the most of it. You don't want to run a generator full time, or run it with a trickle charger attached to a batter wasting most of the energy. Get a high current battery charger so when you do run the generator, you are making the most of the fuel consumed.

Here is a pic of the stationary bike generator idea. If it were a Schwinn Airdyne like mine you would have to get rid of the air spoiling fan or you would be working extra hard for nothing. convert human fat into electricity with this bike. | eARThday Everyday