off grid solar system for deep well water pump

zeidyhall

Good afternoon, I am afraid I will have to ask that you speak as if I were a five year old, since i really know nothing about this subject.  Precisely why I have the following questions:
I have a deep well 1.5HP water pump in a farm in Costa Rica.  There is no electricity.   I need to run the pump for at least 4 hours per day (we get plenty of sun for that and I have been quoted 3 250W panels a 400volts battery plus a 5000 watt inverter.  I need the inverter to have the ability for both 220/120  since the pump is 220v but I want to plug a light bulb or two.   Where can I find the right inverter or better yet, what should i be looking for in an inverter. 

westbranch

Welcome, having the make and model of that pump will go a long way to a correct answer form us...
A picture of the name plate works too...

Caution, do NOT buy anything till you get a complete answer....  also the make model of Panels inverter , battery

PS they left off a Charge Controller which you will need to charge those batteries... that are needed if you want an inverter...

BB.

There is a a second option for powering pumps. Basically:

Solar panels -> special AC inverter -> 3 phase motor -> pump

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
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 (information on possibilities to connect "standard VFDs direct to solar panels) (new link 1/13/2013)

If you can live with pumping only during the middle of the day, using solar + VFD + pump motor can be a really nice way to go. Finding a local person that knows where to find the "Solar VFD" and match it to the right pump may be difficult.

-Bill

Dave Angelini

I have some clients in Playas Del Coco and if you are lucky your pump is a grundfos SQ or really lucky an SQE.
Short of these you will have to state a budget because if your pump is a standard deep well pump it is going be very expensive to compare with just running a generator for 4 hours as you stated.
Your parts list does not sound right, 400V for battery?

mike95490

Figure a running load of 2500W,  and a starting surge of 5-10 times that.  The inverter, batteries and cables have to be able to supply the starting surge,  or the inverter will shut down.    OR  look for a soft start pump. or a solar DC pump