There are many applications such as irrigation and farm operations where water pumping is needed. In many cases it is cost prohibitive to utilize power from the electrical grid and a Remote Solar Power System is appropriate.
An example of this is the system used by Culligan Water Conditioning in Danville, Kentucky. Rain water is collected from building 1 and flows by gravity to a buried 1200 gallon cistern to a 12,000 gallon storage tank at building 2 located approximately 50 yards distant. This DC sump pump is powered by a 350W solar panel. The rainwater that is collected is used to irrigate the grounds for both buildings. Since only the cistern pump requires electricity, a DC sump pump is used to avoid having to convert the DC power to AC (alternating current). The components of the pumping system are shown below.
Process Diagram
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350W Solar Panel
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Direct Current (DC) -
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Charge Controller
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DC-
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Solar Batteries
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DC-
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DC Pump Controller
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DC-
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DC Sump Pump in Cistern
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DC-
12,000 Gallon Rainwater Storage Tank
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