Any recommendations for a decent solar powered pump for a water well? Needed for light duty irrigation and keeping wildlife troughs full in a remote area without electricity (eventually should have electric and can covert the pump down the road).

Thanks in advance.

You need to figure out what your max draw is, then most likely get a battery pack that can supply it, and not drain to zero. Then a solar recharge pack for the battery.

We did a solar panel on a remote well we had drilled a few years ago. My BIL is a water well guy and he did it. He put a pump in that could do both AC and Solar Panel. It was more expensive but have option to do go AC if we ever get power up there. That's about all I know, LOL.

It keeps the livestock water trough's full and then some.

Batteries add a lot to longterm cost and maintenance. You don't want batteries unless you need water at night. Even then, a storage tank might be the better option.

I've done four solar wells now. One higher quality larger one and the rest cheap Chinese setups from ebay and aliexpress. My advice is, if it's shallow and a small pump, just go cheap since two guys can pull and service it. If it cant be easily pulled by hand, then spend the money on a quality setup because calling someone for service isn't cheap.

My oldest setups are 5-6 years old now. Only complaint on the cheap ones is they don't produce what's claimed, out of the box. They work great but if you want 10gpm, get something advertised for 14gpm.

Grundfos SQFlex series pumps, can use ac/dc have low water shutoff. Expensive but can get one that meets your situation and needs. Easy to install on your own if you have any mechanical ability.

Whoa, had no idea you could get 10gpm on demand from a solar pump without having a stored energy source.

How big is the solar panel?

Check out SimplePump.
Simple Pump Well Pumps - Solar Power

OnlyForNow said:

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Whoa, had no idea you could get 10gpm on demand from a solar pump without having a stored energy source.

How big is the solar panel?

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My cheaper 12-15 gpm setups are set about 50ft deep. Each has four high quality panels in the 385-405 watt range.

My bigger one is pumping around 33-34gpm It has 10 385 watt panels. Eight panels set for high sun, two turned towards afternoon sun. It does a really good job of maintaining heavy flow until the sun sets and under heavy cloudy conditions.

The cheaper setups are less tolerant of shade. Even though they're all setup with max power input for their ratings. So that also seems to be an advantage of spending more. More efficient controller I guess.

OnlyForNow said:

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Whoa, had no idea you could get 10gpm on demand from a solar pump without having a stored energy source.

How big is the solar panel?

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We run ours at about 60% duty cycle and daylight only, just to save on pump life. Grundfos centrifugal. Array is 8-10 panels about 16' x 8'.

Edit to add that it is lifting about 100' and giving me 9 gpm.

CS78 said:

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Batteries add a lot to longterm cost and maintenance. You don't want batteries unless you need water at night. Even then, a storage tank might be the better option.

I've done four solar wells now. One higher quality larger one and the rest cheap Chinese setups from ebay and aliexpress. My advice is, if it's shallow and a small pump, just go cheap since two guys can pull and service it. If it cant be easily pulled by hand, then spend the money on a quality setup because calling someone for service isn't cheap.

My oldest setups are 5-6 years old now. Only complaint on the cheap ones is they don't produce what's claimed, out of the box. They work great but if you want 10gpm, get something advertised for 14gpm.

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Much the same, here. I've used Grundfos SQFlex and cheap Chinese pump setups. Lorentz and SunPump are other brands to consider.

I finally started using cheap Chinese pumps because my Grundfos pumps were only lasting 2-3 years. They cost about $2500-$3000. The Grundfos "control box" (not necessary, but available), is another $600-$700 (it controls nothing, just has indicator/diagnostic lights). They are 2-year warranty, unless you buy the box AND have a "certified" installer, and then the warranty is 5 years.

The cheap chinese pumps are only about $300-$400 each. . As mentioned, if you have a shallow well, they can save you a lot of money. I have one well that is 150 feet, and that one is a little difficult to pull/service. The 60-100 foot wells are easy to pull by myself.

There is a company on the internet called "RPS", that sells pumps like these Chinese ones (at MUCH higher prices), that has some really good videos showing how to install/set up.

A DIY Chinese setup will run you $1000-$1200, with solar panels, pump/controller, wire, black poly pipe, fittings.

(Wire is about $2 a foot and 1" black poly pipe is about 70-80 cents a foot.)

The Grundfos will likely be about $4500-$5000.

If the Chinese goes down, you can buy another $400 pump/controller setup, and pull/re-install yourself in an hour or two.

The Grundfos?? A minimum of $2500 for a new pump.


AgainI, if the well is shallow/you like DIY, go Chinese.

Deep well? No "skills"?? Spend the $$ on the Grundfos.

Obviously MUCH more legit setups than what I was thinking would be involved.

Appreciate the education.

Try Lorentz: https://www.lorentz.de/

I've used a couple of solar pumps for similar setups, and the **Solariver 12V Solar Water Pump** is pretty solid for light-duty irrigation. It's efficient, easy to set up, and doesn't need a lot of maintenance. Also, it's a good option for off-grid areas and can be upgraded to electric later if you need more power. Just make sure you get a good battery storage system for cloudy days!

OnlyForNow said:

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Obviously MUCH more legit setups than what I was thinking would be involved.

Appreciate the education.

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They don't have to be. At 100' lift, we have three that we are Natalia's ourselves with two 18" x 24" panels. They are cheap Chinese diaphragm pumps. Again, they run at about 50% duty cycle for pump longevity but produce about 1.5 gpm. It will keep a 800 gallon trough full except when cattle hit it hard but even then it does not go dry. Overflow goes to small dirt tank for wildlife and it nearly always has a little water in it.