Should I Install a Solar Powered Well Pump to save on electricity costs or to ensure water during power outages??

Customers frequently call asking about converting their well pump to solar so that they can have water when the power is out. This blog will share the same questions and information that we share with our customers.

There are two fundamental questions we ask when working with a customer to help them with the best solution:

1) Is the well an already existing well or is it a well that is planned for the future?

2) Is the well at a very remote location without access to power?

If the well is in a very remote place, the costs to install conduit and wire can be very high and the installation of dedicated solar equipment could cost less than the cost to run power to the well location. In this situation the costs and benefits of a dedicated solar powered pumping system should be investigated! But this is a relatively small proportion of situations. Most wells are connected, running and relatively close to where the water is needed and power is available, what is the best solution. So what is the best solution for wells that are already connected and in use? Before explaining the best solution, it is important to note a few more pieces of information most people don’t know or hadn’t thought of about their well pump or water system:

a) Well pumps don’t run constantly, they typically need large amounts of power intermittently in the day and night to meet intermittent water demands. Installing solar panels dedicated only to your water needs mean that this solar equipment sits idly by doing nothing when the sun is shining and no water is being used. This is an inefficient deployment of technology. This technology should be deployed in a manner whereby it can be useful whenever the sun is shining.

b) Frequently there are storage tanks, booster pumps and water filters involved in the process of providing water for a rural home. These are often located far from one another. If you power the well with solar, then you need some way to get power to the filter, tank and booster pumps. More panels? Batteries? This is getting a little crazy and if you implement this system it will look like a Rub-Goldberg contraption, overly complex and likely not be very reliable.

c) Well pumps designed to run directly off of solar panels are not produced in the same quantity and do not have the same availability and customer demand as regular pumps designed for household current (120/230 volts). Specialty, more expensive, pump controllers may be required. This means that dedicated solar pumping solutions are more expensive…and they aren’t any more efficient at converting electrical energy to flowing water.

d) Pumps need power day or night, whenever you use water! The sun only shines in the day (at least the last time I checked) which means that a solar pump without a battery bank would be useless at night, in overcast weather or smokey days.

So, what is the best solution for existing wells to have uninterrupted, “free” power?

With the preliminaries out of the way, the best solution is to install a solar system that supplies power to your main power panel for your whole house, including your pump equipment! This solar system should be sized to run your essential needs during a power outage, be grid tied to feed excess power back to the grid, and have a battery bank capable of getting you through a few days of power shutoffs or bad weather (or smoke obscuring the sun if you live in a fire prone area). This type of system means the pump equipment is standard, off the shelf, cost effective equipment! It also means that the solar panels and batteries can keep your fridge, freezer and lights on in the home as well. This type of system means the the solar equipment is maximally utilized by selling excess power back to the grid when you don’t need it and giving your whole home power and not just your well pump.

There is something to be careful of if you do go the route of installing a battery backup, grid-tie solar system. Don’t go down the trap of thinking that your power is free AND UNLIMITED. It isn’t your power is free as long as you use the same amount of power you used before installing the solar equipment. If you starting thinking that you can use an unlimited amount of power, you are still going to get a power bill. Why? Because the solar system is designed for the amount of power you used based on utility records. If they way you think about solar power is incorrect and you start using more power after you install solar, then you won’t be saving anything. Successful implementation of solar doesn’t just require the right equipment, it also means a correct understanding of the equipment, its capabilities and limitations. Give us a call today at (707)944-2471 if our team can help you understand your Napa County well & water!

Please note that Amazon links have been provided to show illustrations of products mentioned in this blog. These links are not intended to show the exact product for your specific application, rather a generic example of the product referenced. While purchasing these items is possible, please do so after having done your own due diligence and understand that these links may generate Amazon commissions. If you are not familiar with electrical safety procedures then you should not attempt working with the electrical equipment mentioned in this blog as it represents a significant hazard of electrical shock.