D.I.Y solar project

[Africanlion]

Hi
I would like to put together a solar project to pump a borehole in Africa. Currently the pump runs via electricity but I would like to convert it to solar

What do I need please? It's a 1.5 how power pump.

Thanks

 

[binky]

1.5 how?

 

[Africanlion]

1.5 how?

Sorry meant it's 1.5hp

 

[binky]

and does this pump run 24/7, or just during the daytime?

 

[Africanlion]

and does this pump run 24/7, or just during the daytime?

No doesn't run 24/7. At most it runs 2 or 3 times a day to irrigate a small market garden operation and provide the house with water. It fills a 2500 litre tank

The tank is about 10 metres above the ground and the borehole is about 20 metres deep

The pump is already there but I want to know what size panels and how many we need and what else to make it run on solar

Thank you

 

[binky]

do you know what voltage the pump is, idealy can you post a picture or the 'rating plate' that should be on it somewhere.

What I would be looking to do is have a few panels charging a battery of some sort that then supplies power to the motor via an inverter. That way you can reduce the number of panels needed, and have sufficient energy when you actually want it to run the pump.

 

[Africanlion]

Description
Model :4SGm3/17

Power Rating: 1.5HP (1.1KW)

Voltage: 220-240V Single Phase

Current Rating: 9.5A

Hmax:125M

Qmax: 88Litres/min

Capacitor Rating: 35uf,450V

Discharge Diameter: 1.25″

Weight: 18kgs

 

[Geoff1946]

How much power you need is going to be a direct function of how much water you use,
Also can you revert to mains power on any occasional bad days, if solar power runs out, or do you want a good safety margin ?
Can you measure how much power is used per day now?

 

[michael8554]

220-240V x 9.5A = about 2.4kW.
So a minimum of 2400/400 = 6 off 400W solar Panels, more to allow for efficiency not 100%
That's to run the pump at full power.
But the pump might be capable of continuously pumping a trickle into the tank at a lower max current, so less panels needed.
And that would allow a smaller cheaper inverter (the inverter converts the DC from the panels to AC for the pump).
If you have to pump on the cloudy days you'll need a storage battery.
And a few more panels to provide enough current to trickle the pump and to charge the battery.
And a larger inverter to match the bigger load.
Perhaps a DC pump , so no inverter ?

 

[Africanlion]

How much power you need is going to be a direct function of how much water you use,
Also can you revert to mains power on any occasional bad days, if solar power runs out, or do you want a good safety margin ?
Can you measure how much power is used per day now?

I suppose it would be nice to revert to mains if needed yes as some days might not be as sunny as others

 

[Africanlion]

220-240V x 9.5A = about 2.4kW.
So a minimum of 2400/400 = 6 off 400W solar Panels, more to allow for efficiency not 100%
That's to run the pump at full power.
But the pump might be capable of continuously pumping a trickle into the tank at a lower max current, so less panels needed.
And that would allow a smaller cheaper inverter (the inverter converts the DC from the panels to AC for the pump).
If you have to pump on the cloudy days you'll need a storage battery.
And a few more panels to provide enough current to trickle the pump and to charge the battery.
And a larger inverter to match the bigger load.
Perhaps a DC pump , so no inverter ?

So what would be your recommendation in a case where the tank gets filled maximum 3 times a day sir

Bearing in mind we want to keep the costs as low as possible while extracting maximum utility from the system

 

[binky]

I suppose it would be nice to revert to mains if needed yes as some days might not be as sunny as others

this is why I would run via a battery, solar never works at 100% (or very rarely)and direct feeding the motor from the panels is possible, but not likely to work well , so I would connect the panels to a battery via a half decent solar battery charge controller such as victron. You then power the pump via an inverter connected to the battery such as one of these NB, oversize it, if you want 2kW buy a 3kw unit as they never seem to work at 'size for size' in my experience.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EDECOA-Inv...1680260543&sprefix=dc+inverter,aps,97&sr=8-43

 

[binky]

this is the sort of set up you need. Google off-grid solar kit and you should find lots of options.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ECO-WORTHY...979&sprefix=off+grid+solar+kit,aps,96&sr=8-15

 

[Africanlion]

this is the sort of set up you need. Google off-grid solar kit and you should find lots of options.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ECO-WORTHY...979&sprefix=off+grid+solar+kit,aps,96&sr=8-15

Thanks. So is that system enough to power a full house minus cooked if course? Including the borehole?

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

I have been looking into solar for an "off grid" project, one thing that has come to light is the charge controller included in the kit is not good at all, and several people suggest using Click here
The exact one in the kit can be had for around £35, but you can get very similar ones for less than a £5 Click here

 

[binky]

Thanks. So is that system enough to power a full house minus cooked if course? Including the borehole?

That's a bit optimistic .

I posted the link because 'a picture paints a thousand words', and saves a lot of typing with my dyslexic fat fingers

That kit is only 700W of solar panels, I would be looking at something more like 2/3 kw of panels to give resonable amounts of solar power. Use lead acid/ gel leisure batteries rather than lithium, which are expensive, and not worth buying unless you can readily find them in Africa for when they need replacing. It will also allow you to minimise cost whilst building a system that works - you can upgrade at a later date if required. One nice thing about batteries is that you can have multiple inputs such as solar, a wind turbine and generator all linked to the same battery stack as long as each input has battery a charge controller to prevent overcharging the battery. This means you could have say, 3 pairs of solar panels, which keeps the charge controllers small and cheap. Just connect to the battery with terminals like these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jiaxitek-C...313&sprefix=battery+terminals,aps,111&sr=8-12

 

[Sharpend]

Nice link

They’re not stealing my van, not with quick release battery terminals, just need a trolley to wheel battery wherever I go!

 

[binky]

Nice link

They’re not stealing my van, not with quick release battery terminals, just need a trolley to wheel battery wherever I go!

it's amazing what you can find on Amazon, wasn't even the terminals I was looking for