water cooled condenser/solar well pump

[BLPen163]

Moving to a new home with a well. Here in Tampa the water table is very shallow so I'm guessing less that 50' before you hit the aquifer. The AC unit in the home has a water cooled condenser. If I install a solar well pump will it be able to keep up with the pump run time needed for the condenser and the house? Or will I need battery backup to make it possible? 2 adults one child in the home. Thank you

[russ]

Hi - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

You would need a charger and batteries. Otherwise you would only be pumping when the sun was shining.

I doubt you want the ground water passing through the AC unit condenser - usually it is not clean enough and would soon coat the inside of the condenser - They usually are not cleanable.

In that case you would need a separate loop for the ground water and a second heat exchanger.

You also want to check if you can draw ground water for that purpose. Many localities have restrictions on any once through use.

Russ

[BLPen163]

Condensing unit is 8 years old and has been using groudwater as it's cooling source since it was installed It is not uncommon to use the groundwater to cool a condenser. There are no chemicals involved,tubes are stainless so nothing is added back into the water supply. Until the unit fails, replacing it is not an option.
I am trying to determine if using solar for the well pump is economically feasible or not. I have plenty of room for panel/panels and batteries if need be. Guess I'm not sure exactly how to calculate the requirement for a system like this?

[russ]

What is the size of the motor (kW or hp) and starting current if available. How many hours a day will the motor run?

If you have an AC pump you need and inverter as well.

I believe you will be surprised to see the cost of such a system.

It is uncommon to see ground water used most places actually. Not too many locations have pure enough water to get away with it.

Russ

[Mike90250]

400 watts of solar can move a fair amount of water, while the sun shines. for nightime and cloudy days, you will need to either do
Grid Tie with your solar ( and use the grid as your battery )
Install batteries, and reduce efficiency by 50% for nighttime, and buy new batteries every 7 years.

I'd check with your electric utility company, and find if they have a Grid Tie policy and Net Metering Plan. That will take 95% of your harvest, and deduct it from your bill. In Florida, it will take a lot of solar PV to zero out your bill, but even a 5KW array will put a dent in it.

[Sunking]

This is just silly to try to do with solar battery system. Why on earth do you want to pay 10 times more for electricity than what FPL charges?