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bennelson · 04-14-10, 03:42 PM

In other recent experimenting...

For a few days, I ran a stainless steel 12V bilge pump to circulate water through the system. It was nice in that it was powerful enough to self-prime, but the flow rate was so high!

With the high flow rate, the water never gets enough of a chance to pick up heat in the solar panel and time enough to drop it off in the water tank.

So, a few days ago, I bit the bullet, and ordered a Ivan Labs "El CID" water pump. It is a 12V DC model designed to run straight from a solar panel.

I got the pump in the mail today, and hooked it up. The pump has 1/2" standard threads, so I just screwed it straight into the intake end of the panel.

A couple of neat things about this pump:
Brushless
Very Quiet
DC Variable Speed
Separate Motor and Pump components

Since it's two part, first you install the bronze pump half, and make sure there are no leaks. THEN you screw the motor half on.

There is no physical connection from the motor into the pump, and no seals to worry about. The driver half forces magnetism into the pump half which makes it spin.

The two leads of the pump then go straight to a PV panel. I hooked it up to a 15 watt thin film panel I have.

The pump will run on any voltage up to 20. If will keep pumping (but slower) down two about two watts.

Here you can see about how big the 15 watt panel is. I also have a 10 watt mono-crystaline panel that I will test it out with as well.

The flow rate on the pump seems really nice. It's more that the little 4 watt fountain pump that I was using, and it's considerably less than the bilge pump. Seems like the water has enough time to pick up heat in the panel, and drop it off in water tank.

04-14-10, 03:42 PM	#17
bennelson Home-Wrecker Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: SE Wisconsin Posts: 546 Thanks: 3 Thanked 165 Times in 96 Posts	In other recent experimenting... For a few days, I ran a stainless steel 12V bilge pump to circulate water through the system. It was nice in that it was powerful enough to self-prime, but the flow rate was so high! With the high flow rate, the water never gets enough of a chance to pick up heat in the solar panel and time enough to drop it off in the water tank. So, a few days ago, I bit the bullet, and ordered a Ivan Labs "El CID" water pump. It is a 12V DC model designed to run straight from a solar panel. I got the pump in the mail today, and hooked it up. The pump has 1/2" standard threads, so I just screwed it straight into the intake end of the panel. A couple of neat things about this pump: Brushless Very Quiet DC Variable Speed Separate Motor and Pump components Since it's two part, first you install the bronze pump half, and make sure there are no leaks. THEN you screw the motor half on. There is no physical connection from the motor into the pump, and no seals to worry about. The driver half forces magnetism into the pump half which makes it spin. The two leads of the pump then go straight to a PV panel. I hooked it up to a 15 watt thin film panel I have. The pump will run on any voltage up to 20. If will keep pumping (but slower) down two about two watts. Here you can see about how big the 15 watt panel is. I also have a 10 watt mono-crystaline panel that I will test it out with as well. The flow rate on the pump seems really nice. It's more that the little 4 watt fountain pump that I was using, and it's considerably less than the bilge pump. Seems like the water has enough time to pick up heat in the panel, and drop it off in water tank. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.