Hello everyone I am a 55 year old man who grew up on a farm and I have a degree in HVAC so I have worked a lot with equipment and electricity in the past but never solar. What set me off on the journey to explore solar power was when my family and I survived an E-4 tornado earlier this year that took our home and trees in our little corner of Alabama. We are grid tied in this whole state here pretty much because of political things that are beyond our control and I really don’t want to do a grid tied solar system to sell back to the power company for nothing. I do want to build my first off grid solar system here to try and honor the 23 good people our neighborhood lost back in March and hopefully open some eyes to solar power in my home state. My idea is to build a solar powered waterfall, ideally 23 small waterfalls or just one surrounded by 23 led lights of some kind to our little pond that I dug after I rented a bulldozer for a week and removed all the downed trees from our 3 acres and I would like to build a system that I could start small and add to over time because they cannot keep solar power in a headlock in our state forever. Someday I may want to tie into the grid and expand the uses to outdoor lighting and irrigation so I am willing to spend two or three thousand on it but you cannot walk into a store here and just pick up solar equipment to look at like other places so advise on affordable equipment to order and how much power I need to make in order to pump a couple thousand gallons of water an hour would be greatly appreciated, thanks and god bless!
Rebuilding our property
- Thread starter Epeasy
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Deleted member 783
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A couple thousands gallons an hour!? That's a lot. Check these guys out. They are the best that I have found other than Grundfos.
RPS Solar Well Pump Kits - #1 in USA for Solar Powered Water Pumps
More and more Solar Well pumps are being installed in America to pump water with solar for Livestock, farms and off-grid use. Join the RPS Family today.
shop.rpssolarpumps.com
You sound like me...
I grew up in the west and midwest farming and progressed to HVAC and electrical. We moved east and have been here since the early 80s...
I miss the west though... mountains ... springs, etc.
Welcome on here!
Thanks guys and I based the couple thousand gallons an hour on a U-tube video I watched where a guy was saying how much water flow you need to create a 12 to 24 inch wide waterfall and stream bed don’t remember now but I am not in a rush and still picking up big rocks to fill around my water feature between many other projects around here so I have some time to run numbers if I survive these rocks at my age! ? Still sore from picking up two truck loads on Saturday! ? Thanks for the advice and welcoming. I am going to study the posts here as well bc I have already learned so much just from watching Will’s videos and just from reading a few threads I can tell there is tons of knowledge here too! Thanks again and have a blessed evening!
Oh and I think the guy said a couple thousand gallons a day, sorry ADHD kicks in sometimes ?A couple thousands gallons an hour!? That's a lot. Check these guys out. They are the best that I have found other than Grundfos.
RPS Solar Well Pump Kits - #1 in USA for Solar Powered Water Pumps
More and more Solar Well pumps are being installed in America to pump water with solar for Livestock, farms and off-grid use. Join the RPS Family today.shop.rpssolarpumps.com
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Deleted member 783
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Oh and I think the guy said a couple thousand gallons a day, sorry ADHD kicks in sometimes ?
Thats a little easier!
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Deleted member 783
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If you are pumping from a pond to a small waterfall you can use a CONSIDERABLY smaller pump than something like I posted above (thats a well pump, but just in terms of output). If you only have, lets say, a 6 foot lift, you could make that happen with a small panel, very small charge controller, and something like a shurflo 12 volt pump, commonly used in RVs. Add a battery for nighttime usage. It would be more efficient, however to have one large pump and a manifold out to your waterfalls. Just depends on if you want to do it one at a time or all at once, and the distances involved. Friction losses in pipe is comparable to voltage drops in wire.
Thanks I will research the equipment but I am really thinking about jumping on one of the 4 100 watt panel packs I see on the websites while I can still get the 30 percent back, I saw one for less than 4 and unless I am understanding solar wrong it seems pretty easy to add to the 400 or 800 watt systems up to a point later on down the road? Now the battery thing is another story especially when it comes to cash for them so I may have to start out pre-owned or used golf cart or something still contemplating those but it will work out, God is good, I know this bc I am still alive today and probably shouldn’t be. That thing was a beast, 8 months later I am still astonished that we all survived from our house and while I don’t know his exact purpose for me is I am very thankful to be alive and have the opportunity to help people and better our community. I feel if I can learn solar and help some others around here with it then maybe I can pay the good lord back some for allowing me to survive and enjoying the natural beauty of Alabama another day. Thanks again for the knowledge and god bless you all!
