Will this solar panel run this pump without a battery.

[Discho]

Thanks very much for your response to my query, SunEagle.

[SunEagle]

As an after thought, the solar panel had a good 11 hours of sun yesterday and we moved the panel as the sun moved (we are in Western Australia) and it was 39 C yesterday and the sky was clear. After the sun set, the pump and light ran for about 3 hours and then stopped. This morning we had to press the start button to get the pump to start again. The charge light on the battery remains lit at all times as though it is charging, but doesn't go out at all so could it be that the battery is not charging properly? Thanks again.

Without knowing the wattage of the pump and those LED lights it will be hard to know if your battery is big enough to run your loads, but a 4.5Ah 12v battery will only get you about 15 watt hours which is not much at all.

IMO the battery is not big enough and that solar panel is also pretty small.

[Discho]

As an after thought, the solar panel had a good 11 hours of sun yesterday and we moved the panel as the sun moved (we are in Western Australia) and it was 39 C yesterday and the sky was clear. After the sun set, the pump and light ran for about 3 hours and then stopped. This morning we had to press the start button to get the pump to start again. The charge light on the battery remains lit at all times as though it is charging, but doesn't go out at all so could it be that the battery is not charging properly? Thanks again.

[Discho]

We have purchased a 100w Water Fountain Solar Powered Water Pump 2 spray heads submersible with LED and Battery Kit, Garden 10.5 ft. The specifications are
Features:-

• 10.5ft pump head
• 1600L/H flow rate
• Solar powered, zero running cost
• Energy-efficient
• Adjustable flow rate and water lift height
• Durable latest DC brushless technology
• Easy set up mechanism
• Easy cleaning and maintenance
• Comes with rechargeable battery
• Super long 5m cable
• Comes with LED light
• Suitable for indoor and outdoor
• Suitable for daytime and night time
• 2 nozzles option

Specifications

• Solar Panel:
• Max Power Voltage: 17.28V
• Max Power Current: 1.157A
• Dimension: 52cm x 35cm x 2.3cm

• Brushless DC Water Pump:
• Max. Flow Rate: 1400L/H
• Pump head: 3.2m(10.5ft)
• Flow adjustable: Yes
• Dry protection: No
• Protection class: IP68
• Cable length: 5M (16.4ft)

• LED Light:
• LED quantity: 6pcs
• Light colour: White
• Light photosensitive: Yes

• Backup Battery:
• Battery box capacity: 12 - 24V, 4.5Ah
• Power saver timer: Included
• Battery cable length: 5M (16.4ft)
• We have it set up and running but are finding that after running for a couple of hours at night (the pump and light) the system shuts down. This in itself is ok but it does not automatically start again in the morning. We purchased this solar pump with the battery backup so it would keep running when there was no sun. We are going away on holiday for a month and wanted to be able to leave the system working whilst we were away. Could someone please tell us whether the solar panel is big enough to charge the battery each day and should the system automatically start in the morning after it has stopped overnight. If we require anything further to have the solar pump running 24/7 could you please let us know what we need. I purchased the kit from a company on line and have let them know what is happening but we haven't had a response. As we are going away in a few weeks we need to know that the system will be running whilst we are away. Many thanks for your help.

[LETitROLL]

What type of battery is well suited to the complete discharge / recharge mode of use?

It is not going to really be complete discharge/recharge, especially with an undersized battery (which is fine when you don't want to store energy for later) the surface voltage will rise and fall more rapidly when put under a load, or charging, and the charge controller will react to that surface voltage that is sees. In other words with the 12v pump running and no solar input batt voltage will drop quickly and when it hits CC's preset cutoff (usually around 11v) the system will shut down, as soon as the load is disconnected the battery voltage will start to rise/recover (even though no charging) and if you check it an hour later it will be sometimes quite a bit higher. If you are looking at Charge controllers some may have a slightly higher disconnect (11v instead of 10.5) I would pick the highest you can find to help the batt and just have system mostly run only when sun is out.

[lkruper]

What type of battery is well suited to the complete discharge / recharge mode of use?

A battery made with a lemon and copper and zinc works well if you replace the lemon in between

[SeldomSeenTony]

Type of battery?

What type of battery is well suited to the complete discharge / recharge mode of use?

[LETitROLL]

Ok, so what i am trying to do is fill a 45 gallon drum with hot water using just solar energy. I have 50 metres of 16mm black pvc tubing in a coil on top of the 2 metre hight barrels. The tube comes out of the barrel, round the black coil and then return into the barrel. I live on the south coast of Spain so get lots of hot sun, so only really want the pump to run when the sun is shining. Any suggestions on pump size and best connection method to solar panel. Thanks. Sorry if this sounds too simple, this is the first project I have done, but am hoping to do more.

It is very simple to hook it up with a Charge controller and battery and very inexpensive, and the most proper/common way for good reason. If you only want it to work when the sun is shining it is all the better, just use a very small battery and when the sun gets too low the battery voltage will drop very soon and the charge controller will automatically shut down the system, the next morning when the sun comes up it will only take a short while for the battery to come up to normal voltage and the charge controller will turn the pump back on (about the same time it takes your first batch of water to get warm in the pipe). The charge controller and battery will make things run a lot smoother and last longer, i was just looking at new PWM charge controllers yesterday for $10.69 and you can get a small battery new or used for not much more than that.

[SeldomSeenTony]

Voltage Regulator as a possible solution?

I am looking at a similar challenge - a very simple solar powered pump that only operates when the sun is shining.
In a sale I picked up a 115W panel with 37V output and plan to connect this to a 12V DC, 50W pump via a voltage regulator.
The voltage regulator came from e-Bay and is designed for golf cart use. The input is 30 - 50VDC and the output is 12VDC and the unit is rated at 120W.

There will be some loses in the regulator but I think I will have power to spare.

Anyone else tried this or have any comments?

[Wy_White_Wolf]

Your links don't work.

By what you posted the voltage of the panel is too high and will burn up the motor. Some motors can handle a wider range of voltage but no idea if this one can or not.

The Amperage (IMP) of the panel needs to be about 150% of the motors requirement to give you about a six hour window to operate if you are not using a LCB (linear current booster). You listed 1.14A for it's requirement so the panels IMP needs to be 1.71 or higher. You can use a smaller panel down to 1.14A but that narrows down the window of operation.

WWW

[Stew]

Ok, so what i am trying to do is fill a 45 gallon drum with hot water using just solar energy. I have 50 metres of 16mm black pvc tubing in a coil on top of the 2 metre hight barrels. The tube comes out of the barrel, round the black coil and then return into the barrel. I live on the south coast of Spain so get lots of hot sun, so only really want the pump to run when the sun is shining. Any suggestions on pump size and best connection method to solar panel. Thanks. Sorry if this sounds too simple, this is the first project I have done, but am hoping to do more.

[Stew]

What I said of course ONLY applies when the sun is shining.. as with no battery the motor will receive no power at all.
17.5 v into a motor that takes 12v is way to high.and i seriously doubt the specs that say it can operate on 6v ?? and if it did the pump output would be very low.

Ok, What I am trying to do is fill a 45 gallon barrel with hot water from solar power alone. I have 50 metres of 16mm black pvc tubing coil on top of the barrel (2 metres high) with a tube out the barrel, round the coil and back into the barrel. Do you think this pump is big enough or should i go larger?

[Mike90250]

To run nearly any DC motor directly from Solar Panels, you often need what's called a "Linear Current Booster" to keep the motor from stalling out in less then perfect lighting.

I would also say that the 20 watt panel you have picked, is too small, and wont run the pump except for maybe an hour at noon. Going to a 12V, 50w panel will cost a bit more, but assure the pump being able to run. Panels are rated in a test lab, and few installations have the ability to meet the same test conditions. Additionally, your panel will be "off axis" all the time, except for about 30 minutes daily.

[Sunny Solar]

What I said of course ONLY applies when the sun is shining.. as with no battery the motor will receive no power at all.
17.5 v into a motor that takes 12v is way to high.and i seriously doubt the specs that say it can operate on 6v ?? and if it did the pump output would be very low.

[Sunny Solar]

sorry left out the word battery.. about size of small motorcycle battery