# solar well pump?



## troyanddeb69 (May 10, 2015)

wasnt sure where to post,but i just bought a place has a 220volt wellpump,i wanted to see if it has or could be done....hooking up solar to run the 220 wellpump? or if i could put a 110 pump on there and hook it to solar? im new at this so any suggestions to links, leads diy articles would be appreciated,i havent done any specs as of yet to find out depth of well and so on till i find out if making 1 pump or another solar is possible first, so once again any info,input or leads are appreciated. thnx bb p.s at this time im only wanting to do the wellpump in solar nothing else till i see and know how this all worx thnx


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

I am a bit confused. Normally solar is considered for the whole house. If you only have a small system to run your well, are you not planning to use water at night, or when it is cloudy? Or do you plan to have a backup generator to run your well when the solar is not operational. Or are you planning to have large water tanks that you fill during the day? Very hard to understand what you have in mind.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

Why are you picking the well pump as your solar experiment? It's a bad choice trying to run a water well system that was designed for on grid use, as a stand alone solar system. The deeper the well and the larger your water useage, the worse the choice becomes.

Think about your water use vs the solar cycle. When the pump isn't running in the daytime, where is the power going? Or are you going to just let the system hold at open circuit voltage and loose a lot of potential generation ? 
When you are using water at night, where is the power coming from ? 

You will either need a big bank of batteries, or a big water storage tank to solve that conundrum.

It can be done but it won't be cheap. You would be far better of just saying that you want to save X dollars a month off your electric bill and do a grid tied system on your house that is designed for that purpose.


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## troyanddeb69 (May 10, 2015)

hey guys thnx for replies, thats just it i dont know anything about or what i want lol..............after ur replies it sounds like it not cost effective for what i was trying to accomplish, i just wanted to know if it was feasible to run a pump on solar or not,i was intending to store power in batteries for use at nite also but it doesnt sound like it will be worth it so while i got u here let me try this one...knowing i have a 220 pump now,does it use more energy for nomal use to switch to a 110 pump? thnx


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

The energy required to pump water is controlled by the head (amount of lift required), the flow rate, and the friction loss of the piping. Has nothing to do with whether you run at 120 or 240 volts. So your energy use will be essentially identical whether you run your pump at 120 or 240 volts. Most deep well pumps are set up for 240 volts, the higher voltage allows the pump to be a little smaller, which helps going down the pipe.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

While the energy use is about the same, the amperage is double at 120v. So you would need to replace the wiring from the source, all the way to the pump.

Your are also pretty much limited to a 1/2 hp pump. It will only go about 150 ft down, and even at a depth within that range, may not deliver the gpm needed.

You can go deeper and/or get more gpm with larger 240v pumps.

I would never replace a 240v pump with a 120v, but have replaced a 120v pump with a 240v.


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## troyanddeb69 (May 10, 2015)

ok thnx guys thats the things i needed to kno as i said i just bought this place so was looking at waz to save in the future on little odds and ends,will let u know of what i`d like to do next. thnx


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

With an overhead supply tank of sufficient size batteries aren't needed if gravity will work for you.


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## troyanddeb69 (May 10, 2015)

see something else i never thought of lol thnx for the info


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Solar well pump keeps cattle watered at the ranch. And as usual, batteries not included.:surprise:


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