Install a pump that uses 180 volts and 2500 watts.

BB.
BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
This discussion was created from comments split from: How many solar panels.
Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset

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  • carlitostj
    carlitostj Registered Users Posts: 1
    I need to install a pump that uses 180 volts and 2500 watts.
    I have a lot of solar panels in 92 volts and 98 watts.
    how many panels i need to installed to work
  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    edited February 2016 #3
    Carlitostj,

    I moved your question to your own thread--Should make things a little be easier to follow--We talk just about your questions.

    Exactly what kind of pump/motor are you using? Solar panels have a pretty wide output voltage range... From Zero volts (obviously dark) to Voc (which is roughly 20% over Vmp)... Plus output voltage is somewhat affected by solar panel temperature (hot summer day, Vmp of the panel can be depressed by as much as 20%).

    Also, solar panels do not have "surge current"... So if the pump motor has a lot of static back pressure (piston pump against water pressure), it can be very difficult to start the motor with a "reasonable" size solar array.

    There are pump controllers that go between the solar panels and the electric pump motor which can better "match" panels IV curve to motor IV current (IV=Current Voltage curve).

    Lastly, there are not a lot of 92 volt solar panels out there at this time--What brand/model number of panels do you have? Many of these "different" solar panels are flexible and/or amorphous type solar cells. And they typically do not have great life in full sun (2-5 years of life is not unusual).

    The typical glass panels with crystalline solar cells should last over 20+ years these days.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • jonr
    jonr Solar Expert Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭✭
    Maybe not big enough, but you can use a pump and controller designed for use with solar.  Just go to www.alibaba.com and search for "solar well pump".  Also consider the Grundfos SQFLEX.

    I am available for custom hardware/firmware development