Solar Power For Pumps

[narkeddiver]

Hi,

 

The two biggest electricity users at my home are the swimming pool pump and the Koi pond pump

 

Would it be possible and practical to remove these from the grid and power them by solar and batteries?

 

I don’t know the actual power consumption of these pumps but the pool pump runs for several hours during the day and the Koi pond pump runs pretty much 24/7

 

thanks in advance

[jvs]

I have 2 solar pumps for irrigation and i am very happy with them.

Just bought a new pump and 4 new panels today to upgrade the old system but that is still working very well.

I doubt if you need batteries,6 to 8 hours sunlight(even cloudy is ok) should be plenty power to do what is needed.

My system starts when there is enough sunlight and shuts down when the sun goes down.

It will run during cloudy days also but not full power.

[Crossy]

Check the actual consumption of your pumps.

 

Probably the simplest and cheapest way to mitigate their consumption is to add a small grid-tie inverter and a couple of panels to your mains supply.

 

Once you know your pump consumption, we can give an idea of what you need.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's a slave to The Great God Koi (they are Madam's fish but ...)

[narkeddiver]

16 minutes ago, Crossy said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's a slave to The Great God Koi (they are Madam's fish but ...)

Same here ;)

[narkeddiver]

I have a dumb question

 

What’s the easiest way to determine the consumption for the pumps?

 

The Koi pump is submerged somewhere in filtration system but is plugged into a socket so I guess I can look on Lazada for a power meter that I can place between it and the plug socket

 

The pool pump may be harder to work out. It was installed by the previous owner and sits in a pit. I can’t see any markings on it that denote it’s power and I can’t see where the power cables run to - I assume it has its own circuit on a board somewhere 

[JBChiangRai]

If your swimming pool is a salt water system, don't run it during daylight hours, run it shortly after the sun has gone down, run it for as short a time as you can and still have chlorine present in the morning.

 

I run mine for 1 hour per day at 18:30-19:30