Friday, January 15, 2016

Quality Customer Care & Products

Butch Robison.jpgAdvanced Power Inc. began its journey in the quiet town of Canton, Oklahoma with Butch Robison. Butch opened shop in 1988 when he crafted the company’s first solar powered water pump to put an end to the constant work and maintenance that windmills are notorious for. In his first few years, Butch crafted these then PVC housed solar pumps for himself and a few of his neighbors to save them the time and labor of working on windmills.            



030.JPG These early models were non-submersible, had brushed motors and simply floated on top of a water source; even then the people he had supplied them to were very happy with the services and products he had constructed. He soon realized that he could turn this small idea into a business that had the potential to benefit numerous people who had similar water needs that were not being met, or were being met by older, less efficient technologies.
In the nearly 30 years since then, Advanced Power Inc. has matured into one of the most trusted companies in the solar water pumping industry. It has taken years of innovation and dedication to get where we are today. Modern technology has allowed for better resources and better-finished products than that of the past, but one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is how we view our customers, who have aided us in becoming the successful company that we are. We greatly appreciate every customer who purchases a pump from us and we realize that they are the lifeblood of our company.


The Process:

It all begins in our engineering department where our engineers spend countless hours to ensure that the products we provide to you are dependable and reliable. We use top of the line tools and state of the art machines such as CNC machines and the latest CAD software designs, to guarantee that every solar pump from Advanced Power Inc. is skillfully and precisely crafted. Every Advanced Power solar pump is assembled by hand in our factory.


PVC is also a thing of the past, our solar pumps are now encased in aircraft grade aluminum housings, making them lighter, stronger, and most importantly giving them the ability to dissipate large amounts of heat, extending the life of the solar pumps motors. Our engineers are constantly improving and working on our pumps to give you the pinnacle of the industry, because if you’re not happy with your investment, we’re not happy.



After we craft what we believe to be one of the best solar pumps on the market, our next goal is to get our solar powered water pumps into the hands of people that can benefit from them. We have a highly qualified sales team, who are guaranteed never to hassle you, but instead provide friendly service and quality information. They will listen to your water pumping needs and use their expertise from years of experience and intuition to advise what they believe the best fitting solar pumping system for you would be. Our team has successfully provided solar powered water pumps to thousands of customers worldwide who have used them to utilize a water source such as a river or a water-well to: water livestock, start a vineyard, maintain an orchard, irrigation, fill ponds, and supply water to a home, cabin, or even small villages.


While they always want to sell you an adequately sized system to meet your water pumping needs, the owners have instructed our sales team to never try and sell too much pump and panel. We have seen many of our competition do this, we are constantly talking to potential customers who were quoted water pumping systems between eight to ten thousand dollars from competitors, when a two thousand or twenty five hundred dollar system will pump all the water their situation requires. Besides being manufactured in the United States unlike most solar pumps, another one of the main things that make Advanced Power pumps great is that they are some of the most efficient pumps on the market and can do the job with a fraction of the solar power of many larger pumps manufactured by the competition.


After a purchase, we continue to stay in contact with our customers because of our strong belief in customer relationships. We have qualified and experienced technical experts who are waiting to speak with customers who may have a malfunction with the product. This can be due to manufacturing workmanship or anything from lightning to an improper installation. If it sounds like a possible mechanical problem we urge our customers to send in their solar pump and our very knowledgeable and intensely trained technicians will find out where the problem is.Whether the issue is determined to be a manufacturing defect or customer related we have by far one of the quickest turnaround times in the industry as far as examining your pump, repairing it and getting it returned to the customer as soon as possible. We realize the importance of water in your daily lives and how disruptive it can be if your water source is not producing. We place a minimum two-year warranty on every new solar pump sold. If we made an error in your system, we want to be sure to fix the problem and withhold you from any more inconvenience.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Is Your Solar Powered Water Pumping System Prepared for Winter?




Not very many things are predictable in this world, from movies to football scores, but one thing that is certain is that winter is coming, and so is the frosty cold. If you have a solar pumping system then you might be acquainted with the possible pains of the piercing ice and its relationship with your water pumping system. Preparation for the weather to come can make a huge difference in your solar pumping system operating at maximum efficiency. Here are some tips to help prepare for the winter season before the temperature drops and some things you can do after to help maintain performance.
Changing the angles on your solar panels can increase the amount of sunlight a solar panel can capture, and therefore changing the amount of energy it can provide. An appropriate angle for a solar panel is your location’s latitude plus 15 degrees. For example Oklahoma is at 35.5 degrees North, so the ideal solar panel angle for Oklahoma is 50.5 degrees.  There are many longitude and latitude maps which can be found for free online. Here's one example http://www.mapsofworld.com/lat_long/usa-lat-long.html.
Be sure your pipes have a weep hole. A weep hole is a small opening below the frost level that allows water to drain freely from the pipes when the solar pump shuts off at night or in very low light conditions. Without the weep hole the pipe can contain trapped water when the solar pump is not running, which can then freeze as the temperature drops. At that point the pipe either has to be thawed or replaced because it has busted due to the water inside expanding as it freezes or worse yet when your pump comes on in the morning and pumps against the restriction it can damage or ruin your pump entirely. In addition to a weep hole, also have the pipes at an angle from the well head to the tank that allows the water to completely drain. There should be no low areas or loops in the piping, this will prevent water from becoming trapped and creating an ice plug. Also the delivery pipe can not be in the water in the tank.
Ice MONEYZZ.jpg
Above is a solar pumping system operating securely throughout the winter while the panels are covered with ice.


Depending on your situation and needs there could be many more possibilities to prevent busted pipes due to freezing, keeping the pipes deep underground, insulating your well or tank, or even winterizing your solar pumping system until the weather warms up. We encourage you to take the precautions that fit your situation. It's also best if your delivery pipe to your tank is not facing due north into the bitter winter wind. This can cause the water to freeze in the delivery pipe at a much faster rate and you may want to consider placing an elbow on the delivery pipe and turning it down to the tank to prevent the wind from blowing up the pipe.

Clear off fresh snow. Seems simple enough, right? Sunlight can be scarce and blotted out by the clouds during the winter months, but nothing is worse than premium sunshine finally showing itself and you realize your solar panels are stuck under eight inches of snow. It only takes a few seconds to grab a push broom and keep the snow cleared, but this simple routine maintenance can do a lot of good.

It is important to us at Advanced Power Inc. that our customers are happy and that their solar powered water-pumping systems are free of any trouble and inconveniences. Please take the necessary measures to protect your solar pump system from this winter season by following the tips above, so that when you need water, you’ll have it.




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