# affordable PV direct water pump



## Sparticle (Nov 1, 2004)

Hello HT'ers. We will be off grid soon and need to pump water from a creek to a cistern. The lift is around 20' and the distance is around 200'. We are fine with pumping only when the Sun is out. We know all about the filtering whatnot. We need a DC pump that is compatible with PV direct. Someone told us a Shurflo from an RV will burn out real fast going PV direct. True? I know the Shurflo 9300 will do the trick but it costs too much. Can you offer any suggestions please? Thanks.


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

Put an ElCheepo 12 volt charge controller between the PV and the cheaper Shurflo to control the voltage. That should work..


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

12vman said:


> Put an ElCheepo 12 volt charge controller between the PV and the cheaper Shurflo to control the voltage. That should work..


Problem with that is in low light conditions the pump has power to it but not enough to make it run. Doesn't take long for a pump not designed to handle it to burn up.

Besides the 9300, shurflo does make another RV style pump that can handle PV direct up to a VOC of 30 volts. Just can't remeber the number for it. I remember seeing it listed for about $160.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Might check this setup out:

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_waterpumping.html

I wish he gave more details. Sounds pretty close to what you need.


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## TheSoundGi (Feb 10, 2010)

Sparticle said:


> Hello HT'ers. We will be off grid soon and need to pump water from a creek to a cistern. The lift is around 20' and the distance is around 200'. We are fine with pumping only when the Sun is out. We know all about the filtering whatnot. We need a DC pump that is compatible with PV direct. Someone told us a Shurflo from an RV will burn out real fast going PV direct. True? I know the Shurflo 9300 will do the trick but it costs too much. Can you offer any suggestions please? Thanks.


 If you are looking for strictly Solar only Dan F. at other power gives you a good full description. http://www.otherpower.com/danf_waterpump.html

I currently have our home setup with a combination on/off grid. In my opinion, the problem with solar only powered water supply is that the water may not be there sometime when you turn on the faucet. My system is set up with a combination solar with battery backup. The two solo panels that I use are set up in series for 24 volts, then output goes into a charge controller that is set up to keep a 12 volt battery fully charged. The solar charge controller is continually connected to a 12 V deep cycle battery. When we turn on the faucet water comes from a storage tank, as the pressure drops the sensing switch turns on the pump using the stored power from the battery. Once the pressure tank is filled and of the set pressure is reached, the pump turns off.

I originally set the system up for solar only, that lasted about a week of hearing my wife complain, so now our system is set up as I stated above, its work great for the last few years.


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## artificer (Feb 26, 2007)

The best bet would be to add a battery and charge controller to the pump. Add a voltage sensing relay so you don't discharge the battery down past 50%, or whatever you choose. The pump will always have enough power to start as long as the battery has enough charge. Basically what everyone else is saying.

If you really don't want the battery, you can add a Linear Current Booster (LCB) like the one mentioned on the linked website, or at least a voltage sensing relay. When there isn't enough power to run the pump, it keeps the pump off. You don't get into the half way on, burn the pump up mode.

Michael


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## Sparticle (Nov 1, 2004)

Thanks everyone. Yes, Dan at Other Power has what we want. We don't want the battery. Would a C-12 charge controller do the trick? We have 120 watt and 77 watt panels. Would the smaller 77 watt panel work okay for this?


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## Sparticle (Nov 1, 2004)

Also, what is a limit switch? Dan uses a Photowatt controller with limit switches. What do they do?


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