I am using a cheap $90 submersible well pump on 750 watts of solar on my tiny pond ( 800sf). I get 6gpm well over 2500 gallons per day only draw back of running this 24v pump 10+ hours continuous is it will need replacement at about 9 months as flow drops to under 3gpm due to worn out screw. I am now trying to get a new 1/4 acre pond dug out in Sandy loam and have it clay lined. RPS was my first choice but due to my sandy soil I decided to try a cheaper DIY version. I use about 1000 gallons for drip irrigation and the rest goes to my leaky pond. I love to see pond videos I just wish clay was not 20 feet below. I will make sure to watch part 2.
Seems you have a plan in place! Yea we are lucky to have lots of clay. Never had an issue with it leaking. We are hopeful that RPS is going to be the solution we need!
Good stuff, Adam. I became annoyed with how expensive panel mounting kits were, I fabricated my own. They turned out very sturdy for a lot less money. But, in hindsight I would ground mount the array like you did here instead of on the roof of the building I am powering.
@@IndyFarmLife No functional issues. But our Off Grid Cabin is in the middle of a very small clearing of our wooded property, so the panels need cleaning every year. The metal roof is fairly steep and about 25 ft. off the ground, so getting up there is a bit dicey. We use a mild detergent with a cloth brush on a 10 ft. pole (think window washer). Since the clearing is not large, I felt that a ground mount array wouldn't be as effective. On top of the cabin, I can get 750+ watts from eight 100 watt panels this time of year.
Great channel bro. You living the dream out there brother. I'm a Boer from SA. You must keep on fishing and hunting strong - True Western man. In Africa the rainfall is much lower and highly unpredictable. Thus a direct comparison unreliable. As such I might have misunderstood what you are doing. Over here it seems that wells, pumping water back to the pond, especially a sunken, need to be down the run or up it and much further away. Unless you want to have a bloody amazing filter, the wells are too close. If you do intend a filter, you might have invented something new, and true to God that is my biggest take away. A near free way filter a body of water. Thank you.
Thank you! We aren't really losing water from the bottom, but moreso evaporation. We have clay down to 175ft. Our pond is sealed very well. The well is to just pull water from the aquifer to keep the pond full. Does that help?
Haha it sure is!! To be fair I used measurements first, the app 2nd! Silver lining is that I have a Samsung, so it has to be more accurate than what you are typing on. 🙃
@HometownAcres "should" be 20-25 gpm. Going to be some cold water coming into the pond, but ready for it to be full! Give those bluegill more room to roam. I think that's their problem 🤣
Solar is perfect for pumping because you only need it when the sun is shining! I can always tell what time of the yer it is by what kind of shirt you wear! Here it is always hot and miserable.
@@IndyFarmLife Take advantage of the heat while you can, you guys up north always go sleeveless while we here always seem to wear long sleeves in the tropical sun.
I know you bought that as a kit but there's three different things that should be done or done definitely to optimize your system I would have to do some research into the controller and pump but just off hand the solar panels you are using I don't believe they are DC optimized which means that if one becomes shaded the whole system drops in power and if one feels they all go down witch considering your just using it to fill a pound is not the end of the world but is not ideal for that many panels to troubleshoot down the road. That leads me into the second thing is the panels is there a reason why you are using 8 panels with a max output of 100 watts witch cost about 100 dollars a piece versus getting three 400 watt panels that have DC optimizers built into them at around 180 to 220 dollars or getting two bifacial +550 watt solar panels for around 250 dollars. Both of those options would leave you needing a much smaller mount and a lot less continuous to go bad. The third thing is the ground mount I understand you are wanting to be able to add on down the road but you need to move the panels and the racking so you are on the two thirds of racking you need and take the part you are not using off if you leave them up in the air like that and get some strong winds there's a chance that you can get some stress on those racks and possibly mess up your solar panels the best way to describe it is the racking supports the panels but the panels gives the racking rigidity.
I'm no expert in the area, but it sounds as though you are pretty well versed! I'll take those items into consideration if we ever hit a snag. Right now though, I'm extremely happy with the setup. I don't know if you watched my latest videos, but we are producing 22 gpm. The pond is already starting to come up and we haven't had any rain in over 6 weeks!
Getting closer to filling your pond. Looking forward to seeing the pump work. 😊
Yes! I'm very excited to get it going!!
This is great. Love the updates
Thanks! It's going to be awesome when it's completed.
You and Hometown Acres killing it with the early morning pond content. Love it!
Adam's love their ponds! Ha
I am using a cheap $90 submersible well pump on 750 watts of solar on my tiny pond ( 800sf). I get 6gpm well over 2500 gallons per day only draw back of running this 24v pump 10+ hours continuous is it will need replacement at about 9 months as flow drops to under 3gpm due to worn out screw. I am now trying to get a new 1/4 acre pond dug out in Sandy loam and have it clay lined. RPS was my first choice but due to my sandy soil I decided to try a cheaper DIY version. I use about 1000 gallons for drip irrigation and the rest goes to my leaky pond. I love to see pond videos I just wish clay was not 20 feet below. I will make sure to watch part 2.
Seems you have a plan in place! Yea we are lucky to have lots of clay. Never had an issue with it leaking. We are hopeful that RPS is going to be the solution we need!
@@IndyFarmLife looks very nice man as always awesome video keep them coming 👊
Thanks! Can't wait to get this thing pumping!
Just bought some land and looking to do this as well, thanks for the video! Nice to know I can make a solar ground mount for an affordable price
Glad you liked it! This setup from RPS should work well. They have systems of all sizes. Both GPM and depth.
Good stuff, Adam. I became annoyed with how expensive panel mounting kits were, I fabricated my own. They turned out very sturdy for a lot less money. But, in hindsight I would ground mount the array like you did here instead of on the roof of the building I am powering.
Have you had issues with it being on the roof? Accessibility issues, or something else?
@@IndyFarmLife No functional issues. But our Off Grid Cabin is in the middle of a very small clearing of our wooded property, so the panels need cleaning every year. The metal roof is fairly steep and about 25 ft. off the ground, so getting up there is a bit dicey. We use a mild detergent with a cloth brush on a 10 ft. pole (think window washer). Since the clearing is not large, I felt that a ground mount array wouldn't be as effective. On top of the cabin, I can get 750+ watts from eight 100 watt panels this time of year.
Great channel bro. You living the dream out there brother. I'm a Boer from SA. You must keep on fishing and hunting strong - True Western man. In Africa the rainfall is much lower and highly unpredictable. Thus a direct comparison unreliable. As such I might have misunderstood what you are doing. Over here it seems that wells, pumping water back to the pond, especially a sunken, need to be down the run or up it and much further away. Unless you want to have a bloody amazing filter, the wells are too close. If you do intend a filter, you might have invented something new, and true to God that is my biggest take away. A near free way filter a body of water. Thank you.
Thank you! We aren't really losing water from the bottom, but moreso evaporation. We have clay down to 175ft. Our pond is sealed very well. The well is to just pull water from the aquifer to keep the pond full. Does that help?
@@IndyFarmLife blessed to have so much clay.
@dewetmaartens359 yes, we really are!
I better watch closely so I know how to do Adam’s 😂
🤣🤣 It's funny because it's true!
Don’t trust the compass app on my phone but this slope meter app on my phone is the tits
Haha it sure is!! To be fair I used measurements first, the app 2nd! Silver lining is that I have a Samsung, so it has to be more accurate than what you are typing on. 🙃
@@IndyFarmLife lol looking forward to seeing the flow rate our of your pump
@HometownAcres "should" be 20-25 gpm. Going to be some cold water coming into the pond, but ready for it to be full! Give those bluegill more room to roam. I think that's their problem 🤣
Solar is perfect for pumping because you only need it when the sun is shining! I can always tell what time of the yer it is by what kind of shirt you wear! Here it is always hot and miserable.
Yea, can't wait to have it going! Sadly I'll be in long sleeves before long!
@@IndyFarmLife Take advantage of the heat while you can, you guys up north always go sleeveless while we here always seem to wear long sleeves in the tropical sun.
Dont toilets use pumped water?
I know you bought that as a kit but there's three different things that should be done or done definitely to optimize your system I would have to do some research into the controller and pump but just off hand the solar panels you are using I don't believe they are DC optimized which means that if one becomes shaded the whole system drops in power and if one feels they all go down witch considering your just using it to fill a pound is not the end of the world but is not ideal for that many panels to troubleshoot down the road. That leads me into the second thing is the panels is there a reason why you are using 8 panels with a max output of 100 watts witch cost about 100 dollars a piece versus getting three 400 watt panels that have DC optimizers built into them at around 180 to 220 dollars or getting two bifacial +550 watt solar panels for around 250 dollars. Both of those options would leave you needing a much smaller mount and a lot less continuous to go bad. The third thing is the ground mount I understand you are wanting to be able to add on down the road but you need to move the panels and the racking so you are on the two thirds of racking you need and take the part you are not using off if you leave them up in the air like that and get some strong winds there's a chance that you can get some stress on those racks and possibly mess up your solar panels the best way to describe it is the racking supports the panels but the panels gives the racking rigidity.
I'm no expert in the area, but it sounds as though you are pretty well versed! I'll take those items into consideration if we ever hit a snag. Right now though, I'm extremely happy with the setup. I don't know if you watched my latest videos, but we are producing 22 gpm. The pond is already starting to come up and we haven't had any rain in over 6 weeks!