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Solar powered hydro setup?

Hey Guys, Just noticed this post and thought I could chime in. Im from Michigan and worked for a solar company for a few years. Luckily I gained quite a bit of knowledge during those times working in engineering there. I currently have my drip system running solar. My solar panel, which I was forunate to get a discount on, works great in low sunlight conditions (Michigan, for example).Keep in mind I am only running ONE drip system which is a 2 volt pump.

The trouble, which some of you mentioned, is the transfer from AC/DC. Luckily I had extra converters, etc. because I run my cabin on solar so I was able to set up my system without much cost. I would reccomend, getting a deep cycle battery to charge up (and it will hold its charge longer), or even a PWC (jetski) battery, then run your pump off of this. At some point though you need to analyze cost. It costs very little to run a 2volt pump 24 hours a day. By the time you get set-up it could end up costing you more then what you paid in electricty. All and all if you are into the "free electricty" aspect go for it! Any particular questions Id be happy to answer, if I can.

Chefben
 
I have to say I am glad you did chime in. I have kind of an interest in this but had a few questions. I have come across some bigger kits that are 60W or 150W solar kits and Im more of an IT geek than I am an engineer geek so here are a few questions.

1) When I see 60W on a light bulb thats one thing but when I see it on a solar panel I have no clue. Im more used to people saying "This/these solar panels generate enough electricity to power a <insert something here>" So what would a 60W or even a 150W solar panel kit power?
2) I always thought it would be cool to have a wind turbine in my back yard to use for free electricity, can these be more cost effective and better generators of electricity than solar panels?
3) Can we see pics of your set up?

More questions may come as we go but thats what I got for now. Thanks much again.
 
Yeah I'll try and get some pics of my set up tonight.

Im going to try to explain this the way I learned. All solar panels are rated by Wattage. IE, 136 watt panels, which were a common one we made. Will a 136watt panel constently have an output of 136 watts? NO. The amount of DC output is totally dependent on the sun (obviously), position of the sun on the panels, and particular strength of various light spectrums from the sun. The trouble for most people when looking into solar power is that it must be inverted. All household items (pumps in this case) are set up to run AC. Power generated from solar is DC. So there needs to be an inversion.

Something also important is a charge controller. On the system at home I belive I have an estimated output of 12volt, however in full sun it could output approx. 16-20 volts, which could be very damaging to your battery which is 12 volt. 12 volt batteries ironically need about 14 volts to get fully charged. The charge controllers regulates the amount of electrcity going into your battery depending on the draw from it. In any case, the charge controller is necessary to keep from overcharging especially the bigger the system you have. In some cases some solar panels (5 watt) wont need a charge controller because the output isnt enough.

So your question is will a 60 watt panel run a 60 watt light bulb. Well yes and no. If you were to invert it and directly connect it to the bulb, under perfect or good conditions the light bulb would be lit. If you loose the max output (cloudy skies) you would NOT be able to run the bulb. However, if you had a bank of deep cycles charging from that 60 watt panel you could easily run light bulbs off it for a number of hours.

Its easier for me if you explain to me what you are looking to run, including the specs, and I can maybe help you determine what you would need. I have a panel similar to this for my drip system My link. Its 30 watts/12 volts. Works perfectly fine for what I am doing and is actually probably overkill.

Im really bad at typing things out sometimes so I pulled out an old article I kept that will do a much better job explaining to you how it works. Dont hesitate to ask. I have many friends that are installers for the company that I stay in contact with. They helped me set up my system for my cabin up north which is a pretty LARGE system.

My link

Hope this helps guys.



I
 
Yeah that military one is quite sweet but a bit out of my price range. I guess as far as my need go Im not really sure. I guess if I wanted to take this kind of far I would say, what would I need to run 1-2 400w HPS lights and fans for 16 hrs/day and a few 300gph pumps? Now that is stretching it a little bit but at the very least Im interested in running 1-2 300gph pumps for the hydro system and say maybe 4-200w Feliz CFL bulbs. What might I need for setups like that, and is it possible to do on a budget?
 
Crazy8:

To be totally honest with you, it would cost you quite a bit to run that type of system. It is dependent on the draw of the pumps of course, but if you tell me I could tell you what you are looking at. You mentioned budget, and without deeply looking into it I would say you would be WELL into the $500 before you are said and done. Other means, such as wind turbines, etc.. are going to basically lead you to the same results. Lots of money and time put in and many years before a return on investment.

I did some calculations for you. I am assuming a few numbers here but they should be fairly accurate. If you were to run 2-300 gal pumps, and 2-200 watt CFL lights 16 hours per day, your actual watt hours per day use (include system losses of .8) would be roughly 7240 watt hours per day. So that is basically 7.240 kw hours per day, which is quite a bit of electricty and certainly something you couldnt do on a budget, so to speak. It is much more practical actually to run just your pumps from a solar system, but even then the return on investment would be MANY years depending on how much you pay for the system.

If you are interested in just running the pumps, let me know and I will help you choose what you would need.

Chefben
 
Well if I did another outdoor hydro system then lights would not be needed, so sure let me know what I would need just for pumps, im still interested. :)
 
Do you happen to have the pumps by chance already? My best guess on them, consulting google of course, is that they were around 2 volts and draw 1 amp. Let me know what you come up with.
 
That sounds like that may be about right. I found a bigger pump that had a 1.2A draw so I think your pretty accurate. No I dont have the pumps yet and not sure exactly what ones I will get but I do know they had to be about 300gph.
 
So I have been doing some more research and it seems I may be on the right path....maybe. So first off wouldn't we want to apply ohms law on each device? Meaning if the pump was 1 amp then wouldn't it be...
P=1A*120VAC
P=120W/hr

and not P=1A*2V
I know your the engineer but just want to make sure :)

So if there were 2 pumps then that would require 240w/hr. Each pump will be on for maybe 30-45 minutes each flood and probably 2-3 floods a day if I recall correctly. This means based on that and if its all correct a max requirement of 4.5 hours/day or 1080W/day. Then turn around and figure just for example, a 30W solar kit getting 13 hours of sun per day would be 390W. Well we both know that's not enough. I would need at least an 80W but if I wanted to allow room for expansion or even a little wiggle room I would maybe want to do a 100W kit in this scenario.

Am I on the right track? Im a huge fan of math btw ;)lol
 
This, My linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600HD-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B000TKHMWK, In addition to your solar panel may be a good way to set up. Without looking into it too much actually this is a GREAT way. It already is sealed, contains an inverter, and is solar ready so to speak.

In addition to the battery this is a nice solar panel because it is easily moved: http://www.amazon.com/Brunton-Watt-Foldable-Solar-Array/dp/B000GEFFBO/ref=pd_sim_auto_1. This panel is a little bit overkill for direct sun, however, you would probably be glad you had it when the day turns cloudy.

That would give you a starting cost below $500 which is pretty darn good.

This is another great set-up, however not as mobile. The only additional thing you would need to purchase is a deep cycle battery, which I would reccomend the Sears brand deep cycle. My company did testing and found that one to be favorable. In any case here it is, My linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50044-60-Watt-Solar-Charging/dp/B000CIADLG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1277484677&sr=8-1.

I could go on and on with different options for the pumps. They are realitively low in the electrical spectrum. Its the lights that are tough. They draw A LOT of electricity.

I hope Ive been able to help you some.

Chefben
 
Yeah that does give me some ideas if this does become something that I go forward on. Hopefully the questions I asked will be able to help out other people to. So with the post I did above am I correct in all of that with being my electronic theory/math?
 
chefben4 said:
This, My linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600HD-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B000TKHMWK, In addition to your solar panel may be a good way to set up. Without looking into it too much actually this is a GREAT way. It already is sealed, contains an inverter, and is solar ready so to speak.

In addition to the battery this is a nice solar panel because it is easily moved: http://www.amazon.com/Brunton-Watt-Foldable-Solar-Array/dp/B000GEFFBO/ref=pd_sim_auto_1. This panel is a little bit overkill for direct sun, however, you would probably be glad you had it when the day turns cloudy.

That would give you a starting cost below $500 which is pretty darn good.

This is another great set-up, however not as mobile. The only additional thing you would need to purchase is a deep cycle battery, which I would reccomend the Sears brand deep cycle. My company did testing and found that one to be favorable. In any case here it is, My linkhttp://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50044-60-Watt-Solar-Charging/dp/B000CIADLG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1277484677&sr=8-1.

I could go on and on with different options for the pumps. They are realitively low in the electrical spectrum. Its the lights that are tough. They draw A LOT of electricity.

I hope Ive been able to help you some.

Chefben
Click to expand...


looks great man good find!!! only thing i was thinking was if i could add more batteries??? i will be running a aquaponics system .... i need to run air pumps all night long plus i need to pump water to my trays all day.. so pretty much 24/7 ... this was something i was looking at .. but it has 1250 watts on this pump.. here is the web site http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=1981&cat=142&page=1 and a air pump i was looking at .. i might need like 2-3 of these... http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=2278&cat=141&page=1
 
HOLY CRAP!!! Im loving that submersible air pump that thing is way cool. That looks like it would be WAAAAAY better than my aquarium bubble wands I use in my 3.5gal setup. Are they pretty good? What is their physical size?
 
redeyes said:
looks great man good find!!! only thing i was thinking was if i could add more batteries??? i will be running a aquaponics system .... i need to run air pumps all night long plus i need to pump water to my trays all day.. so pretty much 24/7 ... this was something i was looking at .. but it has 1250 watts on this pump.. here is the web site http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=1981&cat=142&page=1 and a air pump i was looking at .. i might need like 2-3 of these... http://www.texashydroponics.com/shop/product.php?productid=2278&cat=141&page=1
Click to expand...

I would need to see more specifics on this type of pump to help you some more. Importantly I need to know the amperage. I am going out on a limb here without specifics but I am going to go ahead and say you have surpassed what solar can give you on a budget. This of course is dependent on how much you want to spend. You can get as many batteries as you want, you just need the solar capabilities to charge them at a faster rate then they are used. The 2nd link you gave for the pump would probably work via solar, but again I would need to know specifics for it.

Hopefully that makes sense...
 
chefben4 said:
I would need to see more specifics on this type of pump to help you some more. Importantly I need to know the amperage. I am going out on a limb here without specifics but I am going to go ahead and say you have surpassed what solar can give you on a budget. This of course is dependent on how much you want to spend. You can get as many batteries as you want, you just need the solar capabilities to charge them at a faster rate then they are used. The 2nd link you gave for the pump would probably work via solar, but again I would need to know specifics for it.

Hopefully that makes sense...
Click to expand...


ok i found something that was a bit bigger but it has all the stuff on there for you... http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/30908-2000gph-12v-bilge-pump-1-1-8-port-8-4a-draw-15a-fuse-6-h-x-4-1-4-w.html

thats all i could find for now thanks for any help
 
redeyes said:
ok i found something that was a bit bigger but it has all the stuff on there for you... http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/30908-2000gph-12v-bilge-pump-1-1-8-port-8-4a-draw-15a-fuse-6-h-x-4-1-4-w.html

thats all i could find for now thanks for any help
Click to expand...


Redeyes:

I checked out the link you sent me. If the pump you are looking at is similiar to the 360 gallon bilge pump I would at least go with the system I linked to above (60 watt). Although that would depend on how many pumps you are looking to run. One pump is roughly 25 watts, so I would suggest a bigger system if you were to have multiple pumps. There are some pretty good deals out there on 136 watt and 150 watt range systems. You could easily daisy chain a couple of deep cycles and have plenty of power!
 
hopefully ive helped some people. I know I have gotten so much help from everyone, I love to pass it on when I can. Any other solar questions feel free to shoot me a pm. When i get around to it Ill post some pics of all my solar set-ups!
 
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