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Solar powered well pump

3wheeler

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Mar 5, 2022
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Hi, I'm new to the solar world and new to this forum. I have a couple questions about powering my well pump from solar. I have a 240v submersible pump. I don't know the horsepower but it pulls 4.5 to 4.6 amps when running. That should be in the ballpark of 1100 watts. I would like to start with 2 48v SPF 3000LVM ES growatt inverters in parallel for split phase. I will feed a separate panel with these inverters to power the well pump and maybe a couple of freezers for now. I may add more inverters/batteries in the future to power more loads. For now, my question is about the in-rush current or surge. Would these 2 inverters handle the start-up current of the well pump? They each have a surge rating of 6000 watts. Would that be 12000 watts in a split-phase arrangement? I have read that low frequency inverters can handle surge better but the ones I have looked at are not stackable and like I said, I would like to add to the system in the future. Thanks for you help.
 
Hello and Welcome!

Generally speaking submersible well pumps are the both the most important thing to power and the most difficult thing due to their high start up surge needs.

Yes, 12,000 watts of surge in the split phase configuration. It does ~sound~ like what you are proposing will work but I would need to see the actual graph of the surge rating before I could make any statement about it. Some manufacturers will publish very detailed charts of both surge vs time and watts vs ambient temp. If one cannot find that data it may be wise to look elsewhere.

Others may have actual experience with this model doing just what you are trying to do but I don't.

Good luck!
 
If you can't find a motor nameplate somewhere, it seems run current * 5 is a decent estimate of startup surge. 4.6A*5=23A*240V=5520VA. One inverter should start it if that 6kVA surge isn't just an instantaneous, drops in a few AC cycles, value. You'd probably need to not be running other stuff at the same time for that, however, which is where parallel inverters will be useful.
 
My XW+6848 successfully powers my pump. It's a 1hp Gronfos 240VAC pump. The starting surge is ~38A while the running amps is 9.5. I only run the pump when my system can supply >2000W from my 4500W of panels. Since they are on rotating mounts, I can start my pump at about 8:00am, rotating the arrays eastward.
 
Could you describe what kind of communication system you use
to get the solar production information from your SCC Inverter,
to trigger your pump?
I simply walk to the utility room and look at the controller display. I flip the pump switch when I see 2000+W coming in.

Pretty much every morning I walk out to the utility room with my coffee in hand to watch the power go up as the sun raises. I call it "watching the electricity channel". It's better than television!
 
Excellent. I have the same question about my 550 ft deep 1.5 hp submersible well pump that's on a 240/ 30amp breaker. My little 10K generator is not happy when it kicks on. Has anyone here used these units https://watts247.com/product-category/well-pump/
Just took a quick look but that appears to be for solar direct applications like livestock or irrigation.
 
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So a 12K Growatt would probably be fine for this application and most of the home..
I edited my post a bit so see if that clears anything up.

You're wanting to use a 12k Growatt to run that pump? I can't speak to that with any specific experience but since your 10kW gennie runs it I would think so.
 
So a 12K Growatt would probably be fine for this application and most of the home..
It should, however the standby idle current on the 12K GW will require some additional PV and batteries. Expect idle consumption of at least 120W.

It is a low frequency inverter.
 
Hi, I'm new to the solar world and new to this forum. I have a couple questions about powering my well pump from solar. I have a 240v submersible pump. I don't know the horsepower but it pulls 4.5 to 4.6 amps when running. That should be in the ballpark of 1100 watts. I would like to start with 2 48v SPF 3000LVM ES growatt inverters in parallel for split phase. I will feed a separate panel with these inverters to power the well pump and maybe a couple of freezers for now. I may add more inverters/batteries in the future to power more loads. For now, my question is about the in-rush current or surge. Would these 2 inverters handle the start-up current of the well pump? They each have a surge rating of 6000 watts. Would that be 12000 watts in a split-phase arrangement? I have read that low frequency inverters can handle surge better but the ones I have looked at are not stackable and like I said, I would like to add to the system in the future. Thanks for you help.
You need to measure the start up surge. Most likely the two SPF3000LVM will not handle the surge. Most well pumps that are not inverter type draw around 30A or more on start surge. That is 3600W. The problem is the surge can last for 100ms, where the inverter may not be able to provide the in rush long enough.

If you power anything other than the well pump, then it is a definite NO unless you could cut off power to those loads when the well pump kicks in.
 
Hi, I'm new to the solar world and new to this forum. I have a couple questions about powering my well pump from solar. I have a 240v submersible pump. I don't know the horsepower but it pulls 4.5 to 4.6 amps when running. That should be in the ballpark of 1100 watts. I would like to start with 2 48v SPF 3000LVM ES growatt inverters in parallel for split phase. I will feed a separate panel with these inverters to power the well pump and maybe a couple of freezers for now. I may add more inverters/batteries in the future to power more loads. For now, my question is about the in-rush current or surge. Would these 2 inverters handle the start-up current of the well pump? They each have a surge rating of 6000 watts. Would that be 12000 watts in a split-phase arrangement? I have read that low frequency inverters can handle surge better but the ones I have looked at are not stackable and like I said, I would like to add to the system in the future. Thanks for you help.
Hi, i will give you my experience with this subject. I have a grundfos 2HP 10GPM deep well pump sitting at 360 feet (water level about 300'). the specs on the pump say about 3KW running, and around 13KW to start. I use an "anypower" (aka sungold power, sigineer) 6KW 48v Low freq inverter, specs on inverter says 18KW surge. it starts the pump with no problems. i am using LTO batteries and a 300A 24S ant BMS. i also have a 1HP booster/pressure pump on the same system (deep well pump fills a storage tank so filling is during the day at peak solar power output) . "sometimes" when the booster pump is running (1KW), it will trip the BMS short circuit protection when the well pump starts, but not the other way around . I raised the BMS to 400A short circuit value and everything works fine. my biggest headache is the Inverter, it is very limited when it comes to operating voltage range and charging algorithms. Another issue is grounding, my well site is almost 400' from the main house and 240 comes from the house to a subpanel as a backup source to the inverter (all equipment is located a few feet from the well) and the deep well pump has a ground wire going 360"feet under the ground so i imagine it would be a be a place where there could be a ground potential, if i had a ground rod in the area. (if anyone has any insights on this let me know). i going to install 240vac lightning arrestors on the house feed, inverter output well pump head, and DC arrestor on the panel output (14X327watt sunpower panels with a EPEVER 100A Mppt charge controller) i recently purchased a MPP Solar LVX6048 inverter due to the fact its "all in one" and has more flexible parameters. I chose this route because "standard" well pumps are less expensive and easier to get compared to soft start or pure solar DC pumps when the pump dies, which it will. So i will update anyone interested in this if you let me know. Take Care
 
We have a RPS 400 watt system and have had a lot problems with the controller. In 18 months we have been through 3 controllers. Support is helpful but overwhelmed and don't get back for a week .Yes,I know everyone is short on labor. However that doesn't get the cattle watered. My question is can we run the pump with just a charge controller on our 48v battery bank and a pressure switch to turn in on and off?
 
We have a RPS 400 watt system and have had a lot problems with the controller. In 18 months we have been through 3 controllers. Support is helpful but overwhelmed and don't get back for a week .Yes,I know everyone is short on labor. However that doesn't get the cattle watered. My question is can we run the pump with just a charge controller on our 48v battery bank and a pressure switch to turn in on and off?
~probably~ but that a question best suited for RPS since only they know voltage and amps that thier pump is designed to handle vs. various conditions. A controller's job is take the guess work out and optimize the current solar conditions to get the most water.

The pump may be not even be DC. The controller on my Alibaba pump takes 80vDC and turns it in 60V 3 phase AC. My pump does have 3 wires.

Are you currently are running the system via the controller off of your 48v battery bank or is it solar direct?
 
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~probably~ but it's like that only RPS knows the voltage that thier pump is designed to handle vs. various heads. A controller's job is take the guess work out and optimize the current solar conditions to get the most water.

The pump may be not even be DC. The controller on my Alibaba pump takes 80vDC and turns it in 60V 3 phase AC. My pump does have 3 wires.

Are you currently are running the system via the controller off of your 48v battery bank or is it solar direct?
The controller has the option of battery or solar. It runs about 55 v when on battery and 90-95v when on solar in sunlight. Our pump has 3 wires as well, so I don't know how I would hook it up without the controller.
 
The controller has the option of battery or solar. It runs about 55 v when on battery and 90-95v when on solar in sunlight. Our pump has 3 wires as well, so I don't know how I would hook it up without the controller.
Have you tested the voltage that it's sending the pump?
 
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