Solar panels & pump to pump over 10 000 L per day

[willyoung98]

Hi
i am using a 3hp motor with a bh30 pump to fill a 10 000L tank , water big lawns and BIG veggie garden of about 2 - 3 acres. we get extended power cuts from 15hrs per day to 4 days ... , i pump out of a dam so as water levels change i need to move the pump. I have to move the pump and cable in to the security fence in the evening as it will get stolen if left out (i live in Zimbabwe, im sure that explains the lengthly power cuts and theft). Ideally i would look for a solar pump system that i can have permanently in the yard and it is able to pull water up from the dam about 200 metres in distance but with a height of about 10 metres. is there something like this that is available and affordable ?
I am also looking at starting an aquaculture project so will have a much bigger need to pump sizable volumes of water.

can any one help advise on if there is an affordable solution
thanks

[MarineLiner]

[russ]

Hi Willy - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

Like MarineLiner pointed out, the topic of pumping has come up before. If you use the tag provided toward the bottom of the page you should find them.

You can also use the search feature to find posts on the topic.

In general pumps are more difficult to operate off solar due to the current requirement and starting current.

To operate day time hours using a DC pump would be the only solution and even that would not be cheap.

Take a look around and I will work on an 'intelligent' comment.

[willyoung98]

Hi Willy - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

Like MarineLiner pointed out, the topic of pumping has come up before. If you use the tag provided toward the bottom of the page you should find them.

You can also use the search feature to find posts on the topic.

In general pumps are more difficult to operate off solar due to the current requirement and starting current.

To operate day time hours using a DC pump would be the only solution and even that would not be cheap.

Take a look around and I will work on an 'intelligent' comment.

Thanks very much ... i have looked at the other pump topics and none cover the volumes i need , i would be fine to look at the DC option for pumping in daylight hours as well ... but i am certainly not rockerfeller ..

[Mike90250]

Pumps can only suction about 20 feet. So the pump needs to be at the lowest point, and designed to PUSH water uphill. The next factor, is how high is your storage tank ? Once you know the elevation and volume you need to move, you can select a motor and pump pair.

For example, I have Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV, not my batteries, which still are able to charge from the 3KW array.

This pump & motor supplies me with 9gpm at 65foot elevation gain to my storage tanks.

If you study the Grundfos catalog, you can find a pump head and motor that can do what you need.

The difficulty is power. Your existing motor is 3 HP. That is pretty large. You would need a very large solar array, battery bank, and inverter to be able to start the pump. You may want to have an electrician look into a 3 phase motor, with a Vari-Drive to enable your inverter to start it.

You should chose the highest voltage motor, that reduces the load on your inverter. The inverter, pump & motor all have to be designed together, along with the battery bank and solar array. The solar will need to be at least 6 KW, which will be quite expensive.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Mike

[Sunking]

but i am certainly not rockerfeller ..

Well to move that volume of water up that high you will need to be Rockefeller to do this with solar. You are talking 3 to 5 Hp pump.

[russ]

The 9 gpm pump Mike has converted to metric would be 2 m3/hour - might be within your range.

How much pressure is required?

[willyoung98]

Pumps can only suction about 20 feet. So the pump needs to be at the lowest point, and designed to PUSH water uphill. The next factor, is how high is your storage tank ? Once you know the elevation and volume you need to move, you can select a motor and pump pair.

For example, I have Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV, not my batteries, which still are able to charge from the 3KW array.

This pump & motor supplies me with 9gpm at 65foot elevation gain to my storage tanks.

If you study the Grundfos catalog, you can find a pump head and motor that can do what you need.

The difficulty is power. Your existing motor is 3 HP. That is pretty large. You would need a very large solar array, battery bank, and inverter to be able to start the pump. You may want to have an electrician look into a 3 phase motor, with a Vari-Drive to enable your inverter to start it.

You should chose the highest voltage motor, that reduces the load on your inverter. The inverter, pump & motor all have to be designed together, along with the battery bank and solar array. The solar will need to be at least 6 KW, which will be quite expensive.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Mike

Thanks Mike and others for the responses , i will check the catalogue ...i would much prefer to have the PV system , the 9gpm is fine and i think the elevation gain is within 65 foot . any idea what sort of distance away from the pump could i have the PV cells ? just a thought going back to the security concern ... if i could mount the cells in my perimeter fence and wheel the pump down to near the water ... then connect the voltage cable ...is that at all a possibility ?
cheers
William

[Mike90250]

This is an expensive and logisticly large, investment. All parts are vunerable to theft, and the glass PV panels vunerable to rocks and gunfire.

Pump, motor & controller $750 10 SO5-9 240VAC
Submersible electrical cable for pump 8 ga wire
Flex poly pipe 1.5", for pump
48V 6KW 240V inverter $3,500
Power shed (must be lockable) holds inverter, batteries, charger.
Batteries - 16ea 6V golf cart batteries $2,000
Solar mount for PV $2,000
2,000W of PV for battery charging and pumping $6,000
Solar Charge controller MS TS MPPT 60A $400
Wires, boxes, circuit breakers, lightning protection $2,000
Install labor $__,____
Backup generator (large battery bank will only run pump a few minutes on a cloudy day) 5Kw diesel 1,800 RPM


I also spent many days dealing with mis-information about pumps. I eventually ended up learning how to caculate and size them myself, to bypass either ignorance , or obfuscation on the sellers part, to sell me an unsuitable pump. When you are on grid power, who cares about load or whatever, throw a BIG pump at it, and it will work. with solar, you need to be very sure you are using the smallest pump, sized properly, matched with the right motor and control box, or you end up with no water, and dead batteries.

[Sunking]

Backup generator (large battery bank will only run pump a few minutes on a cloudy day) 5Kw diesel 1,800 RPM

This is what I was driving at. To do it with solar will be astronomical cost. All you need is a diesel powered water pump to do the job.

[willyoung98]

This is an expensive and logisticly large, investment. All parts are vunerable to theft, and the glass PV panels vunerable to rocks and gunfire.

Pump, motor & controller $750 10 SO5-9 240VAC
Submersible electrical cable for pump 8 ga wire
Flex poly pipe 1.5", for pump
48V 6KW 240V inverter $3,500
Power shed (must be lockable) holds inverter, batteries, charger.
Batteries - 16ea 6V golf cart batteries $2,000
Solar mount for PV $2,000
2,000W of PV for battery charging and pumping $6,000
Solar Charge controller MS TS MPPT 60A $400
Wires, boxes, circuit breakers, lightning protection $2,000
Install labor $__,____
Backup generator (large battery bank will only run pump a few minutes on a cloudy day) 5Kw diesel 1,800 RPM


I also spent many days dealing with mis-information about pumps. I eventually ended up learning how to caculate and size them myself, to bypass either ignorance , or obfuscation on the sellers part, to sell me an unsuitable pump. When you are on grid power, who cares about load or whatever, throw a BIG pump at it, and it will work. with solar, you need to be very sure you are using the smallest pump, sized properly, matched with the right motor and control box, or you end up with no water, and dead batteries.

Thanks again for the feed back ... by nature i am very eco friendly focused but it seems in this case im not going to win thats for sure. bigger diesel pump looks to be the affordable solution in this case. i have emailed grundfos in south africa to hear what they can tell me. Thanks again for your help ..you havent heard the last of me cos there are some other things i will be doing that can hopefully go wind or solar ... cheers

[russ]

Good luck and let us know what all you do!

Russ