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

  1. 350W Solar Panel

    1. Direct Current (DC) -

    2. Charge Controller
    3. DC-

    4. Solar Batteries
    5. DC-

    6. DC Pump Controller
    7. DC-

    8. DC Sump Pump in Cistern
    9. DC-

    12,000 Gallon Rainwater Storage Tank