Ditto on the AC option. Most of the "battery based" PV systems I have seen outside the US are completely lacking for maintenance esp. the battery bank. Most folks are not aware of or have available distilled H20.
I saw a village PV - telephone system in Fiji that "the batteries only work after the sun comes out" , no water in the battery bank to be seen and no-one in the village had heard of distilled H2O. The installer from the phone company sad to "use fresh water [well], not salt-water in the bank". So maybe sealed batteries? Higher initial cost and shorter life-span than wet LA batteries but lots less no maintenance issues. Are in-country sealed batteries available? Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc E - [email protected] V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" Do not ever believe anything, but seriously trust through action. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Warren Lauzon Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 8:17 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] PV water pumping The SQ-Flex can run directly from a high voltage battery/PV system, but with a battery based system at over 60 volts or so, you have a lot of problems finding a good charge controller. So, even with the associated losses you are going to get with an inverter system, that is probably the only good option. But I would also advise that systems such as that, especially those involving a large battery capacity, are very highly subject to failure through mis-operation, poor maintenance, and outright theft in many 3rd world countries, so if you end up designing the system keep that in mind. From: Phil Undercuffler <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 6:59 AM To: RE-wrenches <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] PV water pumping Tom, It can be done, depending upon how deep the static water level is and what additional lift or pressurization needs to be overcome. The SQ-Flex will run at highest capacity off an AC source, so I'd consider using an inverter system and grid power, with additional solar designed to supplement the grid. You can run the SQ-Flex off a 120v source, so a single inverter works fine. I run my Flex off my FX2024 along with all my regular household loads, no problems. Size the array to cover the load through the longest expected grid outage (minimum) or you can size the solar to provide the majority of the power, and use the grid as "bonus" energy or to cover up for sizing shortages or the inevitable load creep. Phil Undercuffler "imagine if..." On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 5:29 AM, Tom DeBates <[email protected]> wrote: hello Wrenches, I have an organization in Haiti that I have assisted with PV projects in the past. They drill public wells and have a well (4" casing) that they would like to pump with PV. Problem (one) is that well will draw at ~ 20 gpm and they want ~ 25,000 gpd from the well. I have tried to look at every option I can and it looks like a battery bank will be necessary and an inverter ( 48 volt battery bank) to pump at the rate required. OOPPs, forgot they want to use a Grundfos SQ Flex pump, 16-SQF-10. The gird is "present".....very erratic and stressed, of course. They really would not like to stress gird further and do not want to add a generator. Yep, they made this easy. There are more details, but has anyone designed a PV water pumping system under these constraints and, if so, what have been your results? thanks, tom Tom DeBates Habi-Tek 524 Summit St. Geneva,IL. 60134 630-262-8193 fax 630-262-1343 _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wren ches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrench es.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _____ _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wren ches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrench es.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org Northern Arizona Wind & Sun - Electricity from the sun since 1979 ------------------------------------------------------------ -------- Online Solar Store <http://store.solar-electric.com/> Free Solar Discussion Forum <http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------
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