Solar Powered Pumps

[theotheragentm]

Are these any good? I was thinking about doing an outdoor container to house some fish, maybe a pond.

This would be in the pond section, but it's much less frequented than this forum. I thought maybe someone would have some experience with these.[/url]

[richiestang_78]

No but unless theres a battery also then the pump would run only during sunny days. Depending on where you live keep that in mind.

[SparKy697]

Even with a battery I suspect it would only last a couple of hours without sun.

[richiestang_78]

Depends on the battery capacity, If your looking to save cash on electric bills then just find a low watt pump

[SparKy697]

The battery can be almost any size. It will doubtfully make much difference here. The solar array that is provided will supply little if any more power than the pump needs to run. That will leave almost nothing for charging of the battery. Even a big battery that is not charged will have a short life.

In this case watts = work. Low watts = less water pumped.

[jsoong]

That solar panel looks to be rather small for reliable operation even with a battery ..... This is OK for decorative purposes, the fountain will only run when there is full sun. However, with fish, you need something 24/7. If you want to go solar, you'll need enough batteries to last a couple days, plus a large enough array to charge it up.

They do make solar chargers for RV's & such. The solar panel is much larger than that one & higher capacity (ones I looked at are 16"x24"). Even then, at the present state of technology, the solar panels are still not good enough to dispense with a generator (at least for running an RV) ....I suppose if you gang up a few large panels it might work, but you are looking at major $$.

[jcarlilesiu]

Originally Posted by SparKy697

Even with a battery I suspect it would only last a couple of hours without sun.

Sorry off topic here, don't mean to hijack the thread.

Sparky, I almost got teary eyed when I saw your forum picture. I grew up with an old english sheep dog when I was a boy. He died while I was away at college. Best dog ever, great breed. Just wanted to point it out that its an awesome picture. Brought back alot of memories of mine.

[SparKy697]

OK, I'll keep it short too.

Thanks for noticing.

That is Casey, she is 3 years old. She is our fourth OES and seems to be quite interested in the fish! When ever I can't find her she is usually sitting right in front of the tank watching them swim by. I do agree that they are a great breed, I will never have another breed of dog.

You more than most can understand what is going on in that photo. They do have a special personality. I'll post some more pics in my gallery.

Have a great day!