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  • Solar for pool

    Can anyone tell me , can I buy a solar panel, to run a 1 1/2 motor for 8 to 12 hrs just daylight would be ok .But still keep my home power to pump if I need to run at night . I dont want to buy batt.
    THANK YOU ,
    R.

  • #2
    OK I am typing slowly so you will understand.

    NO

    There are two types of solar power system. Grid tied, and battery.

    Grid tied just uses solar panels and a special inverter that connects to your electrical service. It generates power, and either you or your neighbors use the power. If the system is generating more power than you are using at the time, your neighbors use it.

    A battery system is a closed system consisting of solar panel, charge controllers, batteries, and inverters. They are very expensive and should only be used in remote areas where commercial power is not feasible or economical.

    What you can use is a grid tied system, but it cannot be dedicated to just your pool pumps. Well it can actually but the cost would be enormous.
    MSEE, PE

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    • #3
      Hi Poolpump - welcome to Solar Panel Talk,

      Sunking already answered your question for you but a couple of other points.

      1) Where are you located? (general area)
      2) Does your utility/state have net metering?
      3) Is there any feed in tariff available?

      If you had a grid tie system you could possibly generate and export power when the sun shines and consume that power when to sun is not available. It would be a large and expensive system certainly.

      You need to research how long you actually have to run the pool pump. I believe you are really trying for x numbers of turnovers of the pooşl water volume. If you are exceeding that amount of turnover possibly you could reduce the pump run time.
      [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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      • #4
        a 1.5 hp motor, needs 750W per hp, and usually 2x that because of inefficiencies. so a perfect motor would need 1125W delivered to it, and a store bought motor, will need 2250 Watts.

        My real life example. I have a 0.5 hp well pump, and it consumes 950W according to my inverter. That's just about 2x theory.

        Add inverter losses and such, and you are getting into an expensive game.
        Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
        || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
        || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

        solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
        gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

        Comment


        • #5
          Yep my 2HP pool pump draws right at 2500 watts and I run it 4-5 hrs a day summer and much less winter.

          Pretty much a full blown grid tie solar system of say 6,000 watts is going to cost about $6 a watt installed for a $36K total. You can claim the FED solar rebate of 30% to help offset that if you pay taxes. Some utilities offer rebates, many do not. Check with yours. Most offer net metering which allows the meter to run backward (or add credits) to your bill.

          Need it to run AC? better figure about double that sizing.
          [URL=http://phx-solar.dyndns.org:8081/Footprints.html]My TED 5000 system[/URL]
          Sticking it to the power company one watt at a time!
          60 Ningbo Electric 175 watt panels and 12 Canadian Solar 180 watt panels with 2 PVP 5200 Inverters

          Comment


          • #6
            For pools, I've heard 2 things over the years,

            1) generally, the installed pump is usually 2x the required size, but the dealer makes more $ on the larger pump.

            2) 2 speed AC pumps, or some DC pumps can really trim the electric bill.
            Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
            || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
            || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

            solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
            gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
              For pools, I've heard 2 things over the years,

              1) generally, the installed pump is usually 2x the required size, but the dealer makes more $ on the larger pump.

              2) 2 speed AC pumps, or some DC pumps can really trim the electric bill.
              Yeah I agree, I am looking at the Inteliflo VFD driven pumps as a replacement, a bit pricey, but cheaper than adding more solar.
              [URL=http://phx-solar.dyndns.org:8081/Footprints.html]My TED 5000 system[/URL]
              Sticking it to the power company one watt at a time!
              60 Ningbo Electric 175 watt panels and 12 Canadian Solar 180 watt panels with 2 PVP 5200 Inverters

              Comment


              • #8
                Check in to how many turn overs of the water you need for safety and how many your pump will make. Excess turn overs would allow you to use a smaller drive/pump.
                [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

                Comment


                • #9
                  I have the intelliflo from Pentair. It is a great pump I have the 4X150, it does everything the fancier one does it just doesn't have the remote panel or computer hook up. It is 100% variable speed. It is great, because i spent time adding larger 2 inch pipe and I gave every inlet and outlet a separate line all coming back to a manifold. This is a fancy way of saying I can flow more water with a smaller pump, or in my case a lower setting on the pump, so I use much less electricity. I have not calculated all of the volumes and everything, but I run my pool pump about 8 hours on days we use it, or 8 hours every 5 days or so when we don't. Two things though, We have an automatic cover so we keep our pool covered when not in use, so we don't have to run the pool everyday if we aren't using it. ours is a salt water pool, so I have to run enough water pressure for the salt chlorine generators to turn on. The variable speed is nice for this. For general pool filtering I can set the pump on 1 and let her go and the pool stays filtered very nicely through my DE filter with perilite. If I need chlorine generation I set the pump on 3, and decelerate it until the generators show low flow, then I speed it up a couple of bumps (I think 1 bump is 100 rpms). When the green light from the chlorine generator comes back on, I know I have the lowest setting the pump can run that will flow enough water to turn on the chlorine generators. Now I have a 78 thousand gallon pool, so I have 2 of the 40K generators from Pentair, most folks just need one.
                  I never have to shock my pool or anything, I check the PH and keep that balanced, and the pump, DE filter and chlorine generator do the rest of the work for me. Having a variable speed pump allows me to operate in the most efficient mode to meet my needs for my pool. But really any more than that is a waste. You are better off to filter a pool slowly that fast. Your pool will stay cleaner if you turn it over in 8 hours than if you turn it over in 2 hours.
                  So the lesson here is make your pool more efficient, then work to offset it's cost with grid tie if you are still interested in solar. My pool costs roughly $18 per month of operation. It can cost up to about $35 if we use it a lot. My 2 KW solar system will cost just north of $7,000 with me finding bargains and doing everything myself. The solar will offset the pool in the summer and still generate some power in the winter when we aren't using the pool at all. Now technically my solar is to offset water pumping for irrigation on my pasture and energizing my electric fence, and other farm needs. But since it all goes on the same bill for the sake of this conversation it gives you some perspective.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by trbizwiz View Post
                    I have the intelliflo from Pentair. It is a great pump I have the 4X150, it does everything the fancier one does it just doesn't have the remote panel or computer hook up. It is 100% variable speed. It is great, because i spent time adding larger 2 inch pipe and I gave every inlet and outlet a separate line all coming back to a manifold. This is a fancy way of saying I can flow more water with a smaller pump, or in my case a lower setting on the pump, so I use much less electricity.
                    .....
                    My pool costs roughly $18 per month of operation. It can cost up to about $35 if we use it a lot.
                    ....
                    My 2 KW solar system will cost just north of $7,000 with me finding bargains and doing everything myself. The solar will offset the pool in the summer and still generate some power in the winter when we aren't using the pool at all.
                    ......
                    AWESOME, very nice description and system. Thanks for shareing
                    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
                    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
                    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

                    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
                    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I am pretty proud of it. I spent a year researching how to build a pool that would not cost $300 per month to operate. I read that many pool owners were spending a few hundred per month in operation costs. Clearly mine costs less than a tenth of that, but it took some planning. Also most of the pool builders I called thought what I wanted was crazy, so I just built it myself. Maybe in more up to date areas you'll get builders more on the cutting edge, around here they do it the way its been done for 20 years cause it works. I wanted my pool to more than work, I wanted to be able to enjoy it, not work a second job to afford it. Admittedly it cost me more up front. The 2 inch flex pipe cost about $1000 extra, the pump cost about $400 extra ( I think I paid $900 for the 4X150) the filter was $400 extra, and the cover was $10,000 extra (yea that's one hurt a little, but in addition to solar heat and security, it is safer for my 3 and 4 year old son's and really that is the most important thing. Oh and the Pentair chlorine generators were $900 each. So will the money i spent pay for it's self, I don't know. But at least when I have it paid off next year, it wont cost me a load every month to use. So I can spend more time enjoying it. Would I build it again, probably not, I can think of more responsible ways to spend $35,000 dollars. But who knows my family really enjoy it, and my 4 year old is a great swimmer, and my 3 year old is coming along nicely. I even taught my 4 year old to dive this year.

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                      • #12

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                        • #13
                          [QUOTE=MarineLiner;12328]

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                          • #14
                            Well this camera doesn't take very good pics in the dark. I'll take some more in the morning.

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                            • #15


                              Here's a picture of the pentair 4X150 infinant variable speed pump. Sorry it's dark it is night time here. I have the lid to the controls open for the pic, but it is usually closed. There is no built in timer so you have to manually start and stop it unless you put some sort of timer on it


                              Above are the two pentair chlorine generators I don't remember what they are called


                              Above is a picture of the solar heater. It's a picture from a few weeks ago that's why the
                              lighting is better.
                              I am not a big fan of the solar heater, you have to run the pump at full speed to flow through the heater and still run the generators. And I am not sure it helps much. I'll probably sell this one on CL. So buyer beware, it seems a little over rated.

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