4HP (3KW) DC water pump

[Shams]

Hi folks:

I just discovered this forum and this is my very first post!

I am designing a solar water pumping system that will use a 4HP DC motor. However, I have not been able to find a pump after a quick search on the web. If nobody on the forum has knowledge of such motors, can you please point me in the right direction.

is there such a thing as a 4HP submersible water well pump?

Thanks.

[Mike90250]

.....is there such a thing as a 4HP submersible water well pump?.

Yes, but they are large, expensive, and nearly always AC, multi-phase

[inetdog]

Yes, but they are large, expensive, and nearly always AC, multi-phase

And any pumps that size that accept DC as input most likely contain an inverter drive which converts the DC to pulsed, multi-phase current to actually turn the motor.

Take a look at the range of pumps (mostly smaller) made by Grundfos.

[Shockah]

4hp? wow... I could run my lawn mower with that

[Sunking]

That is really outside the scope and capability of solar. It can be done if money is no object, but it would take a large bank of batteries, VFD, and 3-phase motor. You are talking major expense.

[Shams]

That is really outside the scope and capability of solar. It can be done if money is no object, but it would take a large bank of batteries, VFD, and 3-phase motor. You are talking major expense.

I have to respectfully disagree.

The particular application that I am targeting is for commercial/industrial irrigation systems in the developing world which are either off-grid or have unreliable grid power. These systems do use large brushless DC motors and they are starting to be used by early adopters, although they have not gone mainstream yet. See link below.

http://www.lorentz.de/pdf/lorentz_casestudy_vineyardoregon_usa_en-us.pdf

I understand that the upfront capital costs on these systems are high (compared to your average DIY system in the backyard). Nonetheless, in my opinion they are cost effective in the long term and do not require batteries, inverter, VFD and AC motors. You would need MPPT and a DC pump controller.

Since, I started the thread, I have been able to find a 3.5 HP DC motor from Sunpumps.com

Shams

[cjb80]

I have a 3HP brushless panel-direct SunPumps pump and it works pretty well. It is powered by 10 285 W panels, 5 in series x 2 parallel. It is capable of pushing water up hill about 70 feet at 25 gallons per minute and it maintains 70 PSI in the water line.

So far I have three pumps from Sun Pumps and they've been really good about working with me to service them (a short developed in one of the controllers) and I have always been able to talk to a technician in a matter of minutes when I call.

I would recommend calling them and talking to a sales engineer. Make sure you have flow rates, elevation and pressure requirements so that they can specify a pump for you. You may also want to have some idea of what panels you want to use so that you can come up with the optimal panel configuration for your needs.

Note that this system only works when the sun is shining, which is fine for my case as the summers here are cloudless for months and I don't need to irrigate in the winter. If I had to run this on batteries it would be pretty difficult and expensive I imagine...

Chris

[Shams]

I have a 3HP brushless panel-direct SunPumps pump and it works pretty well. It is powered by 10 285 W panels, 5 in series x 2 parallel. It is capable of pushing water up hill about 70 feet at 25 gallons per minute and it maintains 70 PSI in the water line.

So far I have three pumps from Sun Pumps and they've been really good about working with me to service them (a short developed in one of the controllers) and I have always been able to talk to a technician in a matter of minutes when I call.

I would recommend calling them and talking to a sales engineer. Make sure you have flow rates, elevation and pressure requirements so that they can specify a pump for you. You may also want to have some idea of what panels you want to use so that you can come up with the optimal panel configuration for your needs.

Note that this system only works when the sun is shining, which is fine for my case as the summers here are cloudless for months and I don't need to irrigate in the winter. If I had to run this on batteries it would be pretty difficult and expensive I imagine...

Chris

Thanks Chris!