I got a reply from a solar company listed here for a pump $1800 and $500 per 90watt panel...2 required, so thats close enough to $3k or around 90/100k baht.

Thats a lot of months of electric power to fork pout up front. Rough guess at 10 years, if it was 5 years worth I would consider it.

That price for the 90watt panel isn't as bad as I thought it would be - its not to far off of European prices, but that pump price is a shocker. Is that a dc or ac pump and does that 1800 include inverter/switch gear and storage ??

You get solar panels and you get solar panels. A good one will giving you 80% plus of its power after 10years, whereas a poor quality East Asian example will be well below 80% after 10years.

But however you look at it, the age old problem with solar power still stands - namely, that the capital outlay is usualy more than you are going to be able to save over the life of the panel.

While you may not be able to have a quick return on your capital it is often the convenience of having power and water where you did not have it before.

For me to get power put into my place is going to cost 300-500,000 baht! I have also still got to pay for power on a monthly basis after that and worry about someone else running a big power bill when I not there. Solar panels and a pump is going to be the deal for me! I don't live on the farm full time so I can't control the usage of power. This becomes a non issue when the power is solar!

I/my people can pump enough water to grow as many things as we want, including bananas and other fruit trees and still have enough residual power from the panels to be stored in battery banks for when I am not pumping water, to light the house after dark and power a TV and other requirements.

I don't live on the farm full time so I can't control the usage of power. This becomes a non issue when the power is solar!

Sounds like a good 10 year deal to me!

BB