Solar Submersible Pump to water a portion of the garden - advice needed on a couple of questions

[dinga]

At present I have a pond fountain that I run as an aerator - powered by a single 340W Solar Panel  (Max Power Voltage and Max Power Current of 38.2V and 8.94A respectively).

 

I also have a bore hole in which I'm thinking to install a solar submersible pump to provide water to a section of the garden.  The bore is about 16m deep, and I'm looking to draw the water at 11-12 metre depth - with the main PvC line being about 100 metres in length [feeding drippers & micro-sprinklers using about 3,050 litres per hour - for approximately 1 hour every 2 days (in March-May) or 3 days (in other not-so-hot/windy months].

 

Because of the limited expected use (especially) of the Sub Pump, I'm thinking that the Pump and the Fountain will be run separately and therefore should be able to share the single Solar Panel.  The distance from the Solar Panel to the Sub Pump is about 40 metres though (in addition to existing poles, a new pole will be needed near the Solar Panel to run the electric connection).

 

So - my questions:

 

1.  Is it feasible for the Sub Pump and the Fountain to separately be powered by the single Solar Panel?  Are there any limitations?

 

2.  Does the 40 metre cable length between the Sub Pump and the Solar Panel pose any problems? [perhaps Voltage/Power drop-off etc...]

 

3.  Assume I need a 3-way switch at the Solar Panel to allow selection of the following settings:  (a) Power Off;  (b) Fountain On;  (c) Sub Pump On.  If this is correct, where can I purchase the switch?  (I can't see them on Lazada - is there a special name to cater for the solar power connections?)

 

4.  I have (I think) a 120 Mesh 3/4inch in-line Disc Filter that I'm thinking about installing on the main line at the head of the bore.  Should this filter be sufficient to separate any fine particles in order to prevent any clogging of the drippers/micro sprinklers?   Regardless of the filter used, should I still anticipate regular clogging - especially by bugs & ants?? 

 

Thanks!

 

  

[Bandersnatch]

On 1/15/2024 at 6:50 PM, dinga said:

Is it feasible for the Sub Pump and the Fountain to separately be powered by the single Solar Panel?  Are there any limitations?

I have a solar well pump and  pump from a pond sharing solar panels with a switch to swap between them.

 

if you have a 300w pump and 300w panel then most of the time you won’t have enough power to run the pump, so probably best to add another panel 

 

On 1/15/2024 at 6:50 PM, dinga said:

Does the 40 metre cable length between the Sub Pump and the Solar Panel pose any problems? [perhaps Voltage/Power drop-off etc...]

we ended up moving our panels away from the pond pump and closer to the submersible pump as it was having to work harder bringing the water up.

 

On 1/15/2024 at 6:50 PM, dinga said:

3.  Assume I need a 3-way switch at the Solar Panel to allow selection of the following settings:  (a) Power Off;  (b) Fountain On;  (c) Sub Pump On.  If this is correct, where can I purchase the switch?  (I can't see them on Lazada - is there a special name to cater for the solar power connections?)

A DC transfer switch which you should be able to buy from your local pump shop

 

On 1/15/2024 at 6:50 PM, dinga said:

4.  I have (I think) a 120 Mesh 3/4inch in-line Disc Filter that I'm thinking about installing on the main line at the head of the bore.  Should this filter be sufficient to separate any fine particles in order to prevent any clogging of the drippers/micro sprinklers?   Regardless of the filter used, should I still anticipate regular clogging - especially by bugs & ants?? 

i don’t use a filter with my drip irrigation but I don’t have any fine spray heads

[dinga]

18 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

I have a solar well pump and  pump from a pond sharing solar panels with a switch to swap between them.

 

if you have a 300w pump and 300w panel then most of the time you won’t have enough power to run the pump, so probably best to add another panel 

 

we ended up moving our panels away from the pond pump and closer to the submersible pump as it was having to work harder bringing the water up.

 

A DC transfer switch which you should be able to buy from your local pump shop

 

i don’t use a filter with my drip irrigation but I don’t have any fine spray heads

Thanks so much - more to think about!

 

Given the shading situation, another solar panel can only really be installed next to the current one (which is near the pond fountain).  So I'd still have the 40 metre connection.

 

Also given I was thinking at running a 300W Sub Pump, on it's own, for only 1 hour or so every 2 or 3 days is it really likely that a 340W panel will be insufficient to power the pump (at say peak power production mid/late morning)?

 

The bore is right next to a mains power source, so I'm now thinking it might be easier to forget about solar and just get a 220V Jet Pump....

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

4 hours ago, dinga said:

Also given I was thinking at running a 300W Sub Pump, on it's own, for only 1 hour or so every 2 or 3 days

so you probably won’t get it ever running at 100% efficiency, but sounds like that won’t be a problem for you

as you can run it for longer and less efficiently. The only way to be sure is to try it and it will only cost you the switch and some cable.

 

4 hours ago, dinga said:

so I'm now thinking it might be easier to forget about solar and just get a 220V Jet Pump....

Easy to work out the cost of power used.

One factor I have discovered is submersible pumps seem to last longer as they are not in the heat all day and you don’t have a problem with ants setting up home inside. I have 4 submersible pumps and never had a single problem, can’t say the same for my surface pumps.