Deep water... [RE-wrenches]

[allan]

A few quick response notes:
1.  It might be appropriate to plan in a small Exeltech, with a single
dedicated AC circuit and remote on-off switch signal wiring to the point of
use, to run his computer (and maybe audio & video).  We do this sometimes
with mod-sine systems for noise-freedom.
2.  I think www.Dankoffsolar.com has a chart of AC well pump inverter sizing
capacities in their tech notes section.
Hope this helps!
Allan @ Positive Energy
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Higbee, Solutions from the Land <ghigbee at efn.org>
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Date: Friday, July 07, 2000 11:36 AM
Subject: RE: Deep water... [RE-wrenches]


>
>Hi Wrenches,
>
>Thanks so much for the input for my 425' deep, "big water" client.
>
>Yes, the most important element in this system is conservation, and we're
>not going to be economical if we're using compact fluorescent bulbs in the
>home while we're gushing water all over the land! Good point about strongly
>stressing this.
>
>I do see wind as a possibility, though this is hilly terrain, he's down a
>slope, and he wants something installed very soon (i.e., doesn't want to
>wait for monitoring).
>
>My client just plain wants lots of water, though he's backed down from
5,000
>gallons a day, thank goodness. We're still at a couple thousand gallons or
>so in the summer. At this point we're leaning towards as large an AC pump
as
>his generator can handle for summer use--pumped into a 5,000 gallon holding
>tank on the hill. I'm not thrilled with this, but his budget doesn't allow
>2-3KW of PV's at this time, he's already got a decent generator, and he
>still wants quite a bit of water. My biggest concern is that if he puts in
a
>2hp electric pump (which would probably be most efficient in loading up the
>generator) it probably wouldn't be practical to run the pump from
inverters,
>assuming there was enough array for it. I could see the possibility of
>adding a Sunrise for general domestic use in the non-irrigation season,
>though this would go in under the big AC pump, and should probably be done
>at the same time.
>
>In one sense I'd like to go with the largest AC pump a SW4024 or 4048 could
>handle, even though it would be run from a generator most of the time. At
>least then we'd have a possible upgrade path. I'm not excited about the
home
>computer crashing whenever the pump starts, though! So it seems that either
>we've got two big SW's (too expensive), two big DR's (generator-control
>lacking, less efficient motor operation), or detaching the irrigation
>pumping from the household stuff (our likely direction).
>
>This is an interesting example of where my personal philosophy is
>challenged. My client--a wonderful guy, and retired firefighter (hmm, could
>this be related to wanting lots of water?)--wants to "green" a harsh place.
>It's hard to imagine using so much water in this particular place. I
suspect
>that once the propane generator bill starts mounting this will further
>promote water conservation (drip lines, mulching, sticking with
>drought-tolerant species). I suspect that the system will adjust itself in
>time (a Permaculture perspective, perhaps). For now it looks like we'll
>detach the pumping from the household system, and I'll try to keep some
>future options open.
>
>I am steering toward the most efficient AC pump we can find--maybe one of
>the new Grundfos models. Any of you have experience with any of the newer,
>efficeint "soft-start" models?
>
>Again, thanks!
>
>Gary
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>     Gary Higbee  (ghigbee at efn.org)
>             (541)607-1818
>    Solutions from the Land--solar,
>  wind, and hydro site analysis, design,
>            and installation
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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