Old and confused

[Mach75]

Hi
I’m hoping someone can give me some advice

the wife and I built a small pond and waterfall during the lockdown, we were wondering if it would be possible to run the pump for the waterfall on solar, even if only for the summer months, or since I’m in Ireland the summer month lol

the pump is an old bilge pump off a boat
It’s
12v rated at 11Amps, fused for 15Amps
It would have to run around 10 hours per day
( especially if we put fish in the pond)

My question is
Could it be powered from solar energy
If so,
What size of panel /battery would it require

I have tried to do some research... hence the old and confused
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

 

[John Frum]

Short answer yes.
Longer answer...
11 amps * 12 volts * 10 hours = 1320 watt hours.
Not sure how many hours of sun you get a day but pretty sure its less than 10.
So you will need a battery.
A 150amp hour lifepo4 battery discharged to 80% capacity would give you 1536 watt hours usable.
Then you need panels to replenish that power with the sunlight available.
The next step is to figure out how much sunlight is available in your geographic area.

 

[John Frum]

Then there are the days when the sun doesn't shine to deal with.

 

[Mach75]

Short answer yes.
Longer answer...
11 amps * 12 volts * 10 hours = 1320 watt hours.
Not sure how many hours of sun you get a day but pretty sure its less than 10.
So you will need a battery.
A 150amp hour lifepo4 battery discharged to 80% capacity would give you 1536 watt hours usable.
Then you need panels to replenish that power with the sunlight available.
The next step is to figure out how much sunlight is available in your geographic area.

 

[Mach75]

Hi thank you for your reply
I attempted to use goggle to find out average sun in my area

I think this is the sun calculations for my area ,
It makes no sense to me, maybe you can understand it

 

[Supervstech]

Try this

Solar Sun Hours Map | Solar Insolation, Radiation, Irradiance, DNI Map

 

[Mach75]

Hi
North of Ireland gets about 2.6 hours of sunshine, Ireland isn’t know for its sunshine.
Perhaps solar isn’t the answer, as soon as someone develops a way to generate power from rain ... be sorted lol

 

[John Frum]

Hi
North of Ireland gets about 2.6 hours of sunshine, Ireland isn’t know for its sunshine.
Perhaps solar isn’t the answer, as soon as someone develops a way to generate power from rain ... be sorted lol

2.6 hours / 1320 watt hours = 507.692307692 watts.
So ~600 watts of panels are indicated.
You would need an alternate charge source for days when the sun does not shine.
Also a low voltage disconnect for you loads and a timer are called for.
My cheap little solar charge controller has both of those features.

 

[Mach75]

Thank you for all your help
It seems like quite a lot of equipment and outlay to power one pump,
I think I will have to run the pump off the mains , and perhaps plant a tree in my garden

 

[Forbisher]

It seems like quite a lot of equipment and outlay to power one pump,
I think I will have to run the pump off the mains , and perhaps plant a tree in my garden

How much do you pay per Kw for electric and your cost to run power to the pump.
How many years would it take for the solar power to pay for itself?

 

[Mach75]

Hi mbr
I pay roughly £19 pounds per Kw ( $23)

 

[Pierre]

Hi mbr
I pay roughly £19 pounds per Kw ( $23)

and we complain that we pay around $50 for 500 kWh !

 

[Mach75]

and we complain that we pay around $50 for 500 kWh !

Sorry that’s not right
it’s around .15 pence per kw
Around 18 cents

 

[Ampster]

I am in California and peak rates are $0.53 in summer. Winter is $0.35.
Off peak is when I charge my EVs and the rate is about $0.17. These are all per kWh.

 

[Mach75]

I am in California and peak rates are $0.53 in summer. Winter is $0.35.
Off peak is when I charge my EVs and the rate is about $0.17. These are all per kWh.

yeah sorry it’s around 18 cents for me as well
What’s an EV ?
I might just buy a really good battery and charge it at night

I’m not verY clued up on all this stuff

 

[Pierre]

yeah sorry it’s around 18 cents for me as well
What’s an EV ?
I might just buy a really good battery and charge it at night

I’m not verY clued up on all this stuff

EV = Electric Vehicle . Not to worry , you will soon get used to all the acronyms. Look at the top of the page under ‘Wiki’ .

 

[Ampster]

........
What’s an EV ?

Electric Vehicle

I might just buy a really good battery and charge it at night

That is a good place to start and this is a good place to learn. Lots of friendly people with lots of good resources.