Any one out there running anything on solar power? I am wanting to run a 2 H.P. motor, which is 750 watts per horsepower, so I need at least 1500 watts panel, I have the basic idea how this works but I'm not to sure about storage. How many batteries I'll need to store power, at what amps, is what I'm needing to know. I'm sure the batteries will have a series parallel connection. Just curious folks. Tom, i hope you read this.
Wow, 1500 watt panel? I hope you are not planning on putting that on a boat. You would need a roof of roughly 150 sq ft plus a whole gunny sack full of 100 dollar bills. Plus. I believe there is a limit as to how many panels you can link together. How about one of those little quiet running Honda generators?
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I'm guessing here, IBNFSHN, I'm sorry it is a single phase swimming pool pump motor, You have 750 watts per horse power, Maybe i don't know what i need. The pump motor added about 40 dollars more to my utility bill. I was looking for some alternative, I'm willing to invest 1k into something but I AIN'T going over that. hehehe Maybe Big j will hire me to do some side work.
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Originally Posted by IBNFSHN
Wow, 1500 watt panel? I hope you are not planning on putting that on a boat. You would need a roof of roughly 150 sq ft plus a whole gunny sack full of 100 dollar bills. Plus. I believe there is a limit as to how many panels you can link together. How about one of those little quiet running Honda generators?
Solar is very expensive. You would be talking something like $5 per watt plus batteries. Probably couldn't break even in 200 years. You have several options. Cut down the pump run time. Many people get by with as little as 6 hours a day of pump time.
Unless your pool is big, like 40,000 gallons, or has waterfalls and stuff like that, a 2HP pump is really big for a pool. I have a 25,000 gallon inground, and have a 1HP pump and a 24" sand filter. I only run the pump 8 hours a day.
There are also 2-speed pumps that can run on lower power when things are clean, but that you can crank up if things get dirty.
Pool dealers are notorious for oversizing pumps. It only costs them about $50-100 to go to the next size pump, so they act like they are giving you a bargain for a bigger pump. Too large a pump is worse than too small a pump. You wind up blowing channels in sand filters and wasting electricity. You can always run a small pump more.
You know I was wondering if that 2 Hp motor was too big, I thought so myself. It is a 30,000 gallon pool.I also thought about putting a timer on the pump too. This is the first pool I have had so I'm still learning. Just sticker shocked on utility bill last summer, hehehe Thanks for the input.
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Originally Posted by CatFan
Solar is very expensive. You would be talking something like $5 per watt plus batteries. Probably couldn't break even in 200 years. You have several options. Cut down the pump run time. Many people get by with as little as 6 hours a day of pump time.
Unless your pool is big, like 40,000 gallons, or has waterfalls and stuff like that, a 2HP pump is really big for a pool. I have a 25,000 gallon inground, and have a 1HP pump and a 24" sand filter. I only run the pump 8 hours a day.
There are also 2-speed pumps that can run on lower power when things are clean, but that you can crank up if things get dirty.
Pool dealers are notorious for oversizing pumps. It only costs them about $50-100 to go to the next size pump, so they act like they are giving you a bargain for a bigger pump. Too large a pump is worse than too small a pump. You wind up blowing channels in sand filters and wasting electricity. You can always run a small pump more.
I agree with Cat. Too expensive. You gotta have the panels, (ugly and expensive). Next u gotta have some storange median (batteries) then U gotta have a power inverter to do the dc to ac conversion. The best inverter probably only 85% efficient (I guessing here). Then you gotta have a LOT OF SUNSHINE. Without the sun, the storage medians discharge, then, you need a means of transferring power to a backup source. more equipment, more cost. All of a sudden you got all this expensive equipment to maintain. Solar sounds good and it does work, but it would probably take a couple of lifetimes to break even. TVA still the cheapest energy source in the US. I am not trying to discourage you from going solar here. I am by no means an expert here and I sure and hell don't know anything about swimming pools. But power/horsepower I do understand. I believe in solar power, but I also believe in Hydrogen power and the magnetic perpetual motor. These things will happen. Just come dig me out of the ground and let me see it for myself..ha..I have faith in technology.
Don't forget, 100,000 people worked on the first atom bomb and did not have a clue as to what was going on, not even the vice president (Harry Truman). Same thing with energy source technology.
I had a 17,000 gallon pool with a 1 hp pump years ago. It added about $40.00 to my power bill. I installed a timer built for AC motors and cut the run time to about 8 hours/day. The timer paid for itself in a couple of months and my pool stayed just as clean. I did not bother to calculate the MTBF savings on the filtration system.
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I fish when I can, golf when it is too windy, and work when the weather is bad.
Aside from all the technical stuff we could get into, I recently heard my friend talking about a large solar sysytem he wanted to put in for his home power. I thought yea, yea, yea, yea. Then he said the state (NJ) would pay for 75% of the system hardware and installation!! WOW
It would be the next thing for you to do - contact your state government (I hate that word) and ask about that. Contact the feds too. There should be tons of info on the web somewhere.
Maybe solar isn't that great, but we are so totally addicted to power, and oil is going to run out much sooner than most people think, and we have to start sometime soon on something different. You must also invest in some guns because, when the oil does run out, there will be hoards of viscious looters and killers running all over the place, just like those science fiction movies
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[FONT=ArialBlack][COLOR=DarkGreen]Sorry for my Crappie attitude.[/COLOR][/FONT]
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