Comment

Comment by George on July 25, 2012 at 6:29am

Debra:  No, but I do run a DC water pump from solar charged 12-volt batteries.  It has been running non stop for a few weeks now.  It's a 250 GPH or thereabouts Rule 24.  I may run my system entirely with 12-volt DC at some point. 

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on July 25, 2012 at 6:25am

I am interested to test dc items. give me a website and I will order them 

Comment by Debra Colvin on July 25, 2012 at 5:29am

I had a d'oh moment. Turns out that the aquarium air bubbler I have as an extra thing can work real nicely as a water pump. i found a few air pumps that are dc based, as opposed to my current ac based one, and those also happen to be way cheaper than any solar water pumps within my tiny price range. Now to test the dc ones out. The dc (solar) water pumps were a big disappointment, after all. Talk about wimpy. Just thought I'd share, and ask if anyone had and tried the dc air bubblers out, as water pumps that is, before I fork out the cash.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on July 17, 2012 at 2:18pm

I was asked about using one PV panel to start the learning. I did order 2 PV panels to start my learning.. BUT that was a waste of money for shipping. I believe you can ship 1 PV panel for about the same expense as 4 PV panels. You will find other items that you will want to run on solar, after you get started.

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on July 17, 2012 at 2:12pm

I initially measurted each pump, but I changed things around and I have lost track. So, I do not have a meter reading for each pump. My solar setup is handeling 2 grow-beds and 2 fish tanks. each bed has one pump for water. I have 3 aeriators. all totaled I am running a little more than 100 watts, according to a sensor built into the inverter. So, any time that I am over 4 watts (from the PV panel) I putting a trickel charge into the battery bank of 8 115 amp batteries. I have noticed as much as 14 amps from the PV panel going into the controller.

Comment by Stuart Polkinghorne on July 17, 2012 at 2:05pm

Just got this back from Aire-Dynamics

If there is a 30 kilometer/hr wind, the
windmill will store about 2 bar of
pressure.  Less if the wind is lighter.
Once that pressure has been achieved,
the windmill will stop and not start
back up until the pressure is bled off.
I won't recommend trying to store the
compressed air.  You can use the air
when the wind blows but it's best
if you have power backup.  It would take
an extremely large tank to store
enough compressed air to make up
for times when there is little or no wind.  
It also would take a very long
time to fill a very large tank to the
pressure needed.

I guess we wont know unless we keep asking and keep looking for

better ways.

Still waiting to hear back from a high tech windmill company...

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on July 17, 2012 at 2:02pm

My reason for saying the 33 vdc panel is not a good choice is because I wanted to use a 12vdc setup. the price is good, but it is a waste of power.. My thought. 

Comment by George on July 17, 2012 at 8:11am

Dave:  What is the draw of your pump and how much are you pumping?  Anything normally running from the solar system other than one pump?

Comment by Dennis Glover on July 16, 2012 at 6:43pm

When you say not a good choice, is the 1.21/watt too expensive compared to the average price for panels, or is that the better price?

Comment by Dave & Yvonne Story on July 16, 2012 at 6:22pm

this is a 24/7 project. this is all new for me, but I am learning fast.

8 115 amp deep cycle batteries ($99.00 ea) from AutoZone

2 235 watt 33vdc PV panels, not a good choice, ($1.21 per watt) Affordable Solar

Go Power inverter from Amazon.com

Xantrex C-60 controller from ebay.com

 

 

 

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