Water pumps +

[WildcatSolar]

I have a swimming pool pump (1hp 220/240) and a submersible well pump (3/4hp 220/240) as well as some flourescent lights (110/120) and stereo (110/120) at the pool house. I run the pool pump for 6-8 hours a day. I run the well pump as needed with a typical 20 gallon bladder tank. It probably runs an hour or less a day and serves my entire home. The two pumps are about 150 feet away from themselves and I would only need to power the well if the grid goes down. I am handy with tools and have built homes including wiring, plumbing, carpentry, etc. Could someone recommend what I need in a system and estimate some costs and sources to handle the above? Could I make this modular and add more panels for a fridge and a freezer down the road? I live in SC with plenty of sun available. Thanks.

[Mike90250]

Pumps are VERY power hungry critters. They huge starting surges that tend to fry lesser inverters. Trying to use solar and batteries will be costly, this is gong to likely be best done with a generator. Look into propane or diesel, the fuel stores better than gasoline.

My 5 cents worth

Mike

[WildcatSolar]

I understand the difficulties. I do not want to use a fuel. There is no way to get more at times. I am also thinking of putting an inverter on my pickup truck, but that would require fuel too. Could you recommend an inverter for that? Is there an inverter that is switchable from 120 to 240? If I have to spend money on a solar system to do it, I would like to know the best way. I live in the country and do not have water other than the well. There has to be a way. I am prepared to spend the money necessary to get this done, but there is no need overspending. Please help me tackle this for my family.

[Mike90250]

Only the Xantrax XW inverters (several thousand $) support split 240/120 systems. They are beefy enough to start your big motors, but you will need thousands of dollars of PV panels to gather enough power to run them, thousands in batteries, with a 8 year lifetime.
maybe you can do it with about $15,000.
I'd suggest looking into a 10KW generator, running off propane, one of the 10' long horizontal tanks.

[Calgirl]

Generator Powered Water Pump

I have the same situation here in Florida. My house water pump electricity is supplied by a Yamaha Generator with a tie into my main electrical panel which I had installed by an electrician. When we lose power (usually due to hurricanes), I simply start the generator and flip the four switches next to my main panel. This supplies electricity to the fridge, water pump, sewer pump, microwave and about 6 outlets in the kitchen and breakfast area. I bought a mobile AC unit which is 115V and plug it into the socket in the breakfast area.
Sure, it gets old living in the breakfast area, but it beats the darkness without water and coffee. As an aside, the generator I bought allows me to use my computer (something about sine waves). My next door elderly neighbors were very happy to get the hot coffee I took them after they had spent a long, muggy night without power. I ended up running a long weatherproof extension cord to their house so that they could plug in the freezer. The generator, which is 2600 watts carried the load without a problem. It ran non-stop for 35 hours on less than 5 gallons of gas.

[Johnny Electriglide]

Wow!!

I have a swimming pool pump (1hp 220/240) and a submersible well pump (3/4hp 220/240) as well as some flourescent lights (110/120) and stereo (110/120) at the pool house. I run the pool pump for 6-8 hours a day. I run the well pump as needed with a typical 20 gallon bladder tank. It probably runs an hour or less a day and serves my entire home. The two pumps are about 150 feet away from themselves and I would only need to power the well if the grid goes down. I am handy with tools and have built homes including wiring, plumbing, carpentry, etc. Could someone recommend what I need in a system and estimate some costs and sources to handle the above? Could I make this modular and add more panels for a fridge and a freezer down the road? I live in SC with plenty of sun available. Thanks.

Just looking at running a 1 hp pump 6 hours a day is in my experience an 86 amp load @ 24VDC through two Trace/Xantrec DR2424 inverters com-linked(around $2500). My well pump is 1 hp, and half my main system is to run it, generally.
So with winter sun of 5 hours per day and 20% oversizing for inverter,line losses, and battery charging for cloudy days, you need 86 Amps @ 24 VDC times 17% plus 20% or times 1.37=118 amps of panels times two. You have to series parallel them for 24 volts so need double at nominal 12VDC. With panels like mine which are 75 watts you need two for 4.5 amps @24VDC, and that is with the maximum efficiency of a full tracking array in sets of arrays.
So 118/4.5=26.22x2=53 75 watt panels or equivalent, and in numbers that would fit tracking array mounting systems, i.e. 4 to 8 panels each, depending on ability to get the proper wind resistance.
Say like mine, 8 75 watt panels, you would need 7 full tracking arrays to give you a little extra for lighting and stereo.(7 x $6,500 w/wires=$45,500)
The battery bank for 3 days without sun: L16S 410 Ah 6 volt in 24VDC 4 battery banks parallel linked to a 100 amp charge control(est. $500), then inverters. Each bank is really 205 Ah for 50%. 118 amps x 6=708 Ah of 50% 24VDC banks=4 banks because you can't round down($3,600 w/wires min., plus cost of proper sheds). You are looking at around $54k total, doing it yourself, minimum!
Swimming pools are not solar power friendly, at least the regular designs. The pump is too big and runs too long. I would say, do some research in designs that use less power. Maybe the people at Real Goods can help.

[Mike90250]

I have a swimming pool pump (1hp 220/240) and a submersible well pump (3/4hp 220/240) as well as some flourescent lights (110/120) and stereo (110/120) at the pool house. I run the pool pump for 6-8 hours a day. I run the well pump as needed with a typical 20 gallon bladder tank. It probably runs an hour or less a day and serves my entire home. The two pumps are about 150 feet away from themselves and I would only need to power the well if the grid goes down. I am handy with tools and have built homes including wiring, plumbing, carpentry, etc. Could someone recommend what I need in a system and estimate some costs and sources to handle the above? Could I make this modular and add more panels for a fridge and a freezer down the road? I live in SC with plenty of sun available. Thanks.

You are still looking at thousands of dollars. If your well is shallow enough, you can use an old fashioned hand pump for emergency use. Not sure about the sewer pump.
An XW inverter (Xantrex XW4548 120/240-60 Hybrid Inverter-Charger)
http://store.solar-electric.com/xaxw12hyin.html for $3,000,
A large bank (16) of 6V batteries, stacked to 48V, $2,000
A large MPPT solar charge controller,
Outback Flexmax 80 Amp MPPT $ 600
several KW of PV panels
Evergreen 195W 195 ea. x 14 @ $500 =7,000

http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=309

will be a start.


Or look at a kit:

http://sunelec.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_4

But you have to get that pool pump under control. That power sucker will break your bank.

[WildcatSolar]

Thanks everyone. I am looking at all options. I am open to anything. The well is the most important thing. The pool and little pool house would be physically easy to take off grid if feasible. It may not be. The well and some minor needs in my home would be a major plus to have as a backup. I do not want to use a pumped fuel if I can help it. Defeats the purpose of what I want to do. I have a wood stove and could heat the home especially if I ran its little fan. Puts out twice the heat with the electric fan running. I have a new fridge with a good energy star rating. Energy star tanked water heater. Wanted to use a tankless version, but my home panel did not have the capacity for that. I am using a killawattez to study my usage and trying to lower usage. I am even considering a small steam engine system or microhydro from a nearby creek if I can get enough flow. I am learning like I say. Thanks again.