How many Solar Panels required for running 2 hp motor pump

joshiashay

I want to know how much energy required to run 2hp pump on solar panel?
How many energy is generated by single solar panels and how many panels required for running 2 hp pump 6 hrs per day

BB.

Welcome to the forum Joshiashay,

Can I ask you a few questions? First, do you need to pump only when the sun is shinning? If so, you can avoid a battery bank, inverter, and solar charge controller... This will save something like 50% to 75% of the installation and operating costs of the systems. Batteries tend to be expensive, and only last 5-7 years, and need maintenance.

There are pumps that are designed to connect directly to solar panels. And becoming more common are "VFD" (variable frequency drives) that take solar power in and make 3 phase power coming out.

For larger systems (2 HP is pretty large), you are generally better off using a VFD type unit and 3 phase pump. The direct attach pumps are generally in the ~1 HP range and, while very nice pumps that will last many years, they are not cheap--And may not be easy to get in your region of the world (India?).

Some discussions about VFD (Variable Frequency Drives)... Basically a variable frequency inverter with (typically) three phase output. Used to soft start motors (handy for 3 phase well pumps, or pumps with well head starting capacitor) and can also turn an AC motor into a variable speed motor (very handy for pumping applications).

WELL PUMP and Inverter QUESTION
http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?15680-Wind-solar-for-large-scale-pumping-etc-(out-of-my-depth!)
could use knowledge - using Gould jet pump - transfering from 230vAC to ? DC (new link/thread 10/27/2012)
Help required to design off grid system

Your thoughts?

-Bill

Dave Angelini

Here is a Grundfos at the store here. 71 gallons per minute at 100 feet of head. I shipped one to India but they were available there.

http://www.solar-electric.com/wind-and-water-products/sodcwapu/grsoposuwapu/grsqpu/grundfos-sqflex-40-sqf-5-solar-pump.html

It will only run when there is good sun unless you use a generator. I think we used a 300Vdc array and 2KW to get the voltage up. It could have been less solar. The more solar power, the higher chance that this will work in marginal weather.

softdown

Think I might use a generator for that chore.

Dave Angelini

And there are those who do not want more "chores" than the minimum

softdown

Living off the grid has so many chores that plenty of exercise is almost assured. Most of the time....I like the life style. But I sure do miss satellite TV, good internet, and a phone that always works. A lot of developed countries really accommodate country livers. USA? Closing the post office's.....essentially slashing the throats of country and small town residents in many ways.

BB.

Note:

The links in my above post are presently broken (after the forum software upgrade).... Vanilla support is working on the problem.

-Bill

bharadwaj

I would like to. Know how many solar pannels may be required to run a 24v submerged motor??

mcgivor

Welcome aboard, firstly it's better to start a new discussion including all the details of what you propose to achieve, the details of the motor, a 24V motor is not much to go on, you need to provide at very least a current requirement and what the motor actually dose, without details nobody can answer your question.

softdown

Things are a bit slow today so I'll play around here. This isn't really a panel equation. Inverter size is the biggest question along with wire sizing. 2HP is a beast of a pump, I think, for sure, 220/240 volt with ~~ #6 wiring. 220/240 volt means two inverters and they may have to be big ones such as is available from Magnum Energy.

BB.

Do you have a 24vdc solar motor controller picked out?

-Bill

softdown

You know things are slow when we play with a two year old post.

BB.

bharadwaj is a new poster (yesterday). I will move to his own thread once he come back and gets used to the forum software.

-Bill

softdown

12 volt motors can be used on 100' wells though the volume is "kind of small". I would surmise that a 24 volt pump could work on a 200' well with similar volume. Seems like the wiring should be pretty large in either case. 

Sarbajeet_1

I have an .75 HP submersible pump at 150 fts below and I want to run it through solar panels. Kindly suggest me on the below mentioned pohints
1. Solar power requirement
2. Do I need a VFD to run it. Is it cost efficient to use vfd If yes then availability of vfds for this range.
3. If I want to go for back up system for night time then panel, inverter and battery capcity

BB.

Is this a 0.75 HP pump (not a 75.0 HP)?

Ideally, you want a 3 phase motor to run with a VFD, or, at the least, a single phase capacitor start 3 wire motor with an external (top of well head) capacitor. Franklin Electric, I believe, has a unit available:

http://www.franklinwater.com/products/drives-protection/agindustrialmunicipal/variable-speed-p-series/

But this is a (I believe) AC unit only (not solar).

Here is their pump catalog (including 3 wire single phase pumps--This is for AUS/NZ, so it is metric--hope that helps)::

http://www.franklin-electric.com.au/media/6902/fe624-2011-50-aim.pdf

Ran across a nice document on water pumping and VFD (non-solar):

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs144p2_054026.pdf

Here is an example of a solar VFD for running 3 phase pumps:

http://www.gozuk.com/solar-pump-inverter.html

China is making a lot of Solar VFD systems now--I do not have any information on them other than when they pop up on searches.

If you only have a 2 wire single phase pump--I believe you will have to remove the old pump/motor and replace it with (ideally) a three phase motor, or get a (not cheap) "solar powered" pumping system (integrated solar VFD + motor).

-Bill

jaddu1949

I want to use solar panels on rooftop to extract loose water nearby canal from 30 feet depth. I do not want to use batteries or to convert it to AC. Can I take water by DC motor and please suggest that what type of system is better. Extract of water is sufficient during Sun time. Plz also suggest that how may panels to be used for 8.5 HP DC motor and its size. This is for Agriculture purpose for 7.5 hectors. 

Estragon

To give a simple answer to a complicated question, 1hp = ~745w. 8.5x745 = ~6.3kw. Depending on location etc, you'd need ~8kw pv array.

Panels put out ~150w/sq.meter. 8000/150 = 54 square meters. A common mount would be ~2m high, so ~27m long (roughly 7' by 100' array).

This is just to give you a sense of the order of magnitude solar array involved.

vicbennett

Hi, my well pump is a grundfos 22sqe - 1.5 hp - 220v, single phase. It is used to irrigate presently. well depth is 95' . What am I needing to run it totally on solar with a potential to switch it over to my AC line if the sun does not shine?
Vic

mike95490

That's going to be very expensive.   Since it's for irrigation, it will be running for several hours in daylight. No hope of running it after the good solar hours, for more than a couple minutes.

A guess it will consume about 3kw running, and much more current for starting.

here's my guess, to provide enough power for 5 hours of prime solar

5Kw of PV panels, mounting racks, combiners, breakers, wires .....

60A MPPT charge controller

48V battery bank 300ahmin capacity [3kw of load, 300ah of battery for ripple buffer and a few minutes of carry-over from clouds)

6Kw inverter

backup genset (or grid)

OR

Convert the pump to a Grundfos FLEX series pump.  It's an expensive pump, but can run direct off solar panels (or AC grid power) and no other gear other than it's control box.   Much less expense and bother than a battery based system