[Carolinajim]

My Dad put together a solar powered water pump to water his garden.  I copied his design and have installed a identical pump in my garden.  I measured the flow rate - 2.1 gallons per hour. 



I put together a short flash video which provides details. The video can be viewed at
http://www.redbayfarm.com

[sausagesandcash]

Really enjoyed that. I was always wondering what we would do if the electricity went down. Our well is 225 ft deep, and no electricity means no water. We do have two 125 L water tanks in the attic, but i'd like a more long term backup. That being said we've just discovered an old spring down by a local river. Apparently it was used generations ago, so we could always fall back on that, but i'd like to try a solar powered pump. Must drop you an email.

Regards,

Morgan

[Tullywood Farm]

I had from time to time have problems with water as the most of our water supply comes from a stream that is just diverted to supply our house, Pig drinkers etc.
I did however come up with a cheap solution which was to buy a couple of 1000 litre tanks the ones that come in the wire cages cost about £35 and now we take our water from them all the time as this keeps the water fresh as the last thing you want to do is use stagnant water.
I also bought a small pump that has a 1100 watt motor not serious fast at pumping but does the trick then I got an Inverter 1500 watt (you can get these in machine mart) which is joined to a large tractor which I got given as the farmer told me it was Fu**ed but when I brought it home and gave it a long slow charge was fine.
Now for the most important bit I got a very small battery charger that you can leave on all the time and will ONLY top up the battery when the charge goes down the type you use on caravans, Boats etc.
Now if my power goes out and I run out of water all I have to do is flick a switch and I can fill up my header tanks again.
It's only when you have no water coming out of your Tap that you truly appreciate what it is to just turn on and let it flow.
Kindest regards to all
Joe 

[sausagesandcash]

Any chance of an Idiots guide to the whole thing. I'm hugely interested in generating my own power. We have flowing water and an absolutely ingenious design for a wind turbine (well when I say design I mean a picture, but i've a mate who can source the materials for free and build it for me). I just don't know how to progress from there. Our end aim is to be able to run the water pump ourselves and export any excess back into the national grid, which will reduce our electricity costs. I'd really appreciate the help if you have the time.

Regards,

Morgan 

[Carolinajim]

I'm really no expert on these systems...I just attached all the parts together and it works.  Here are a couple of links to help those folks who want to use wind or solar to pump water.  They are US links so you will have to excuse our roughshod use of English but you might find the links useful.

Here is a link to a nice tutorial which even provides info on how to calculate your solar panel requirement.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5071252_build-solar-well-pump.html

This is a link to a discussion hosted by a US company specializing in solar and wind.
http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/index.php

These are a couple of good places to start. 

I did an experiment by the way with my little pump.

Pumping from a depth of 10 to 12' my little pump could push the water up another 10 feet.

Pumping from a tank the little pump could push the water up 20' (probably more since I had the hose on the end of a pruning pole and was reaching as high as I could).

Good demonstration of the energy expended pumping the water out of the ground versus from a stream or pond.

Hope this helps.

[sausagesandcash]

Many thanks jim