The properties Mrs 3M and I are looking at all involve well water, so I want to make sure our water supply doesn't get interrupted by power outages. The area is well suited to solar as well as wind, though wind can't always be counted upon. I've been looking at RPS, but just getting started. I don't know who are the better companies and who to avoid. Off-Grid Living – RPS Solar Well Pumps | Rural Power Systems The land we are looking at is flat so it looks like we would either need a tower or a pressurized system which adds complexity. Ive never been on a well system so am unfamiliar with the ins and outs of how water is stored and delivered. It's understood that we need to determine how much water we use as well as the depth of the well to get the proper sizing. My ideal situation would be a combination of on and off grid as well as the option to manually pump water if needed. Still really just in learning and planning mode. I do plan to have solar augmenting our household power needs but not sure if I want to combine that with the pump power or go for a separate all in one solution. Since we are talking DC a separate solution would put the panel(s) at the pump site and have fewer losses. My goal with solar in general is to offset air conditioning costs in the summer and provide a bare minimum or refrigeration and a freezer, as well as some lighting. Has anybody had any experience with solar well pumps and can share how well it has worked out? How well have the panels held up and their projected lifetime, etc..
I took the simple, inexpensive route. Rather then spend an additional couple thousand on the well pump, I simply wired the existing pump to the inverter. This involved disconnecting the romex from the grid powered breaker box, moving the wire to the inverter powered box (on its own gfi breaker) and it was done. For manual pumping I turn two valves and start pumping. But my static water level is only at 12 feet...in a 600+ foot well. If you have a deep well, it's a different ball game.
I had a well drilled in 2014 on my remote property that sank to 750 feet with only 1/2 gallon per minute delivery to 435 feet. The pump is set at 580 feet. Sounds horrible, but .5 gal / minute x 60 minutes = 30 gallons / hr x 24 hours a day (720 gallons / day). In addition, the well drillers informed me that the 4 inch casing holds about 1.5 gallons per foot and static level was about 60 feet. So 580 - 60 feet = 520 x1.5 gallons means that there is almost another 800 gallons stored below ground, in addition to the 330 gallon IBC tote above ground that I'm presently using for storage. It's more than I thought it'd be and it's plenty so far for two people. We're talking eastern edge of the Mohave Desert at 5100 ft elevation. Anyway I opted for a Grundfos SQFlex series solar pump. It accepts 30 - 300 VDC and 90 - 250 VAC. So, if you're running out of water on a cloudy day, connect your pump up to a genset and refill your above ground tank. I run it normally on an array of old (early 90's vintage) Kyocera 51W solar panels connected in series that deliver about 150 VDC at 3 amps. No inverters or external pump controllers are needed, other than a float shutoff at the tank. It's as reliable as sunrise in the morning. It's even pumped on cloudy days if the overcast wasn't too heavy, just a little bit slower. The pump has a built-in MPPT. The model I opted for will pump up to 820 feet of head because my well is so deep. You may not need that much so you could probably get away with a little less expensive model. Grundfos SQFlex Solar Well Pump
well depth will tell you the way to go , the rest is just a dart throw at this stage Grundfos SQFlex series solar pump. It accepts 30 - 300 VDC and 90 - 250 VAC. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Agreed Sloth
Looking at hydro report for the area well depth should be less than 200' and many wells less than 100; The area we are looking at is the flat part of a wide U shaped valley not far from the central river and one of it's tributaries and is about 60' higher than the main river. Plenty of snow pack to ensure a stable aquifer. Then again, you never know the depth or availability for certain until you drill. I'm also considering pumping to a cistern and then pumping to the house on demand, but very new to the ins and outs of wells. Yes, this is the dart throwing stage for sure!
Im doing 4 wells this year and have done 2 so far . Edit add , in house now , New pump installed at a 130 foot depth one , 200 feet north we drilled a 140' and hit water , driller went stupid and carried on to 190 ' , then pulled pipe back up , 220' depth is another zone but low volume here.. 3rd well (.3 of a mile/north west ) is 150' and 20 GPM , best so far . One left and it should come in at 120' with 15-20 GPM also . This is water year !! and $$$$$ Sloth
The one 2 questions that matter. How far down is the water? How much $ do you have to spend? If it's more than 100' down which it looks like it is that eliminates all the cheap options. Pumping to an open tank at the surface will give you more options. Most of your pressurized water needs can be met with big surge tanks with surflo or Delavan RV pumps.
Look at the geologic report as well as the hydrographs. You want to know something about the permeability of the aquifer and ground around your well site. If it's mostly gravel and sand, you should have no problem with recharge assuming mother rains on you average. Drill way more than you need to, you can always sink the pump deeper if the water table subsides, and setting up a drill once beats out of twice. Solid rock is a different story. My pump is at 515 feet, with ground water recorded at about 150 in the spring. This mountain is nearly solid shale, barely fissured. I have not run out of water, but my neighbor has; his pump is at 315. The more wells in your "development" the more interesting water table stability becomes. Yes, an attic tank will work. Consider that the house will need to be a bit heavier duty to hold it up. And consider that (say) 10 feet of head won't produce a stinging shower. Adding a pressure tank is not a difficult problem and they last forever. Make sure to get your well output tested both for flow and chemically.
I have a second well on the same property that was drilled in 2006. Pretty much abandoned it because it delivered 1 GPM at 670 ft. I'll have to look up the paperwork on it again as I'm not quite sure of that. Anyway, the well is drilled to 702 ft. At the time, there were no solar powered pumps that could pump that much head, about 400 ft was it. Now I'm maybe considering having it cased and a SQFlex pump installed. It could deliver water to a common storage tank along with the well that is now in operation. When it comes to water, it's always good to hedge your bets.
That is more than likely a pump problem, either under powered or under capacity. Low delivery rates always present interesting questions; could also be a pipe configuration oddity at the surface.
We never installed a pump. That result is what the drillers told us in their report. We never bothered to have it cased. So we'd need to get a crew up here to case it and drop a pump for us. Main reason we abandoned it was because it was so deep that we would have needed to install a pump that would have to be powered with a generator, as those were the only type at the time with enough lift to pump from a well that deep, and we wanted to run a well pump from solar. Now, solar pumps are available that can pump from those depths. My post was misleading in the first couple of sentences. Sorry about that.
Lots of info here , but NO MATH !! All just lip service !!! 500 FEET , at what keyboard bug on a mil toughbook , reeboot needed , math is needed of weight s
