Hello from Florida

[RustyP]

Good morning geeky, nerdy, rule the world folks! New here and looking to learn from all the community experts! I am starting to play a little with some solar applications. First up is a solar powered well pump to keep my pond full. Thanks in advance to all those that chime in with advice!

Rusty

 

[Korishan]

Welcome fellow floridian.

Running a well pump off solar will be difficult unless you specifically get a DC powered pump. Minimize the losses. So use a Solar Panel to charge through a MPPT Charge controller to charge a battery to power the Pump.
Depending on how deep your well is, will determine the size pump you need. If it's 80Ft deep, a 3/4HP may be enough if it's only used for filling a pond, unless it's a good sized pond.
I have a pond I've been working on that's about 35' x 70' x 5-6' deep with an island in the middle. Fortunately I have a lot of clay on the bottom so that helps to keep water in it.

 

[RustyP]

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I will be using a DC pump. The well will be 25 to 30 ft deep when I am done bailing it down. The pump specs indicate it can be operated directly from the solar panels but I want a battery to keep consistent power to the pump if clouds go over. Of course, not much I can do on overcast days.

 

[Korishan]

Generally speaking, you should never run a motor off of solar panels directly. Sure, it *can* run off them directly, this is because DC motors can run on any voltage <=MaxRatedVoltage. It will just try to pull more Amps if it's available. Using a battery will create a buffer, allow the pump to run stably and not keep ramping up/down as the voltage changes on the panel. In FL, we have lots of clouds throughout the day. This can cause a lot of ramping. In the end, this can cause overheating of the windings of the motor and shorten the life span.
Using a battery would also allow you to run some LED lights as well if you have enough capacity.
MPPT charge controller is pretty cheap, anyways. You wouldn't need something like an Outback or other high quality controller for this particular application.
Will continue any further information in a new thread if you add on, considering this is the Welcome section

 

[RustyP]

Thanks for the reply! I wasn’t really expecting to get into in depth discussions here. I did start a thread earlier on the BMS section. Looking through the site is impressive! Lots of smart folks on here!

 

[Dr. Dickie]

Hello!!
I run shallow well ground pump off my current solar set up (small with lead acid batteries). The pump runs off the battery.
As you know ground water down here is only about 5-10' down. Even so, I had no end of troubles getting the correct pump.
Finally I found a solar piston pump, and that has worked quite well for me. It doesn't do a lot of work, just waters my garden.
The one I got was Dankoff Solar Force Piston Pump.
I got for 12 volts (the potential of my original system). I have since switched the system to 24V, so I had to put in a transformer for the pump.

 

[Korishan]

Looking that pump up, might be able to repurpose a old air compressor head. If the reed valves aren't stainless, replace with SS. If it's only watering something small, that should do the trick. Then any dc motor could turn it. Just would need to get the pulley dimensions right.

Might even could use an old single cylinder engine, as long as it has valves. Take the exhaust valve out use a check valve to keep water from returning. Then change the spring on the inlet port to a weaker one, just strong enough to hold the valve closed. And also replace the rings with aluminum ones, instead of steel. Altho, I suppose this also would count on the piston head being aluminum too. Might be a little more difficult than I originally thought.
More thinking required....

 

[Mart Hale]

I also am in Florida, and I also have a well with a pump 40 feet deep which I run off solar.