Thread: Mandrake's Solar Power

Originally Posted by Mandrake

G'day ,

You will need a battery if its a 12V pump and most would be for the size and flow you would want .. The panel in bright sun will put out 22V which could burn a motor badly .. having a battery will keep the voltage down to 12-14V .
and allow the pump to run at night obviously . You could pick up an old UPS battery from a computer place - I have 3 here which are 26 aH and about 20 X 20 X 20 cms .. good little battery only rated to 7.5Amps and would run a small 12V pump for quite a while ..
If you're in Melbourne I can help with that .
Cheers
Steve

Thanks Steve. I was using a 240V pump off mains power which has now died. I was thinking that I could get a pump that could cope with the variable voltage - say a 24V pump???

I am in Perth.

If its a 24V pump you need it to be rated at no more than 2 Amps preferably as close to 1 Amp as you can get - That way a 20W or 40W panel would run it for 6-8 hours a day ..
Mike Burns in Kalamunda can help with a panel .. see website for his ctc details . www.solarsteve1950.com
Cheers
Steve