Why Solar Water Pumps Are a Great Fit for Watering Livestock.

Advanced Power Inc. Solar Powered Water Well Pumps in use in pastures for watering livestock.

Solar Powered Water Well Pump in remote pasture location.

In a study in Midwestern climatic conditions conducted at Iowa State University over a five summer and four winter period it was observed that yearling feedlot cattle consumed more water in the summer than in the winter by nearly 35% in an uncovered environment such as an open pasture. The greatest water consumption periods were between 12 and 3 pm in the summer time and between 3 and 6 pm in the winter. It was noted as would be expected that ambient temperature had a greater effect on water consumption than did live weight. It was also observed that in lactating dairy cattle that at 35 degrees F cattle consumed 6 gallons per day and when the temperature rose to 95 degrees F the cattle consumed 17.69 gallons per day.


What does this mean in terms of pumping water with solar powered water pumps for livestock consumption? We know the sun heats the earths atmosphere so for there to be increased heat there has to be increased sunlight, and that sunlight produces the needed energy to run the solar powered water pumps. When the long hot days of summer are upon us, and the sun is beating down on the cattle the sun is also providing extended hours of pumping for the solar pumps. When water consumption is at it's highest point among the livestock the solar powered pumps are producing their greatest water output. The shorter days of winter provide less pumping from the solar pumps but that is when the cattle are drinking considerably less so the solar powered pumping system fits perfectly to the demand according to the weather conditions.

Solar Powered Well Pump for Livestock in Western KS. 

 Even on cloudy or overcast days most solar pumps will produce a limited amount of water when provided enough solar power. The more shallow the well typically the more water one will see provided by the solar pumping system. More solar power always equates to more daily water production even if it does not mean more gallons per minute in bright sunlight. At many times a solar pump may be able to function quite nicely on say 100 watts of power in bright sunlight but 200 watts will make the pump start earlier in the morning and run later in the evening and make the pump produce more water in low light and cloudy situations. The nice thing is on cloudy and over cast days typically the temperature is cooler and the livestock are requiring less water. Especially in rainy cloudy weather where there may actually be moisture on the forage that animals are consuming they may actually get enough moisture from the plants that they need very little if any water from the well.

Solar well pump system installed in 1990 in Western Oklahoma. 

Even extreme winter use with solar pumps typically works well as long as freezing weather precautions are used. There must be a weep hole in the vertical pipe in the well so that it can drain below frost level when the pump shuts off at night or when extremely low light conditions occur during the day. Also it is a must that the pipe delivering the water to the tank is on such an angle that it drains completely so that water can't freeze in it and crate an ice plug. It's very important that the delivery pipe to that tank have no loops or low places in it that can hold water and freeze. The solar pumps will certainly produce less gallons per day during winter pumping hours versus summer hours but the demand from the livestock will be less as well. 

This is why solar powered water pumps are a perfect fit for watering livestock. During the changing seasons as the hours of the day and the amount of water produced change, so does the demand from the animals the water is being provided for. 

Advanced Power Inc. Solar Powered Water Well Pumping System

Above a solar powered well pump system replaces a worn out windmill for producing fresh water from wells for cattle. 

Watch a video about our systems and how easy they are to install.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKhYf8989oM

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Solar Well Pump Install with 1000 Watts of Power and a Deep Well High Flow Helical Rotor Pump from Solarpumps.com

View a video of Advanced Power Inc. employees assisting a rancher with installing a helical rotor solar pump in his well for filling a pond for wildlife use. The well the solar pump is being installed in is approximately 130 feet deep with water standing withing 80 feet of the top of the ground. This system will use 1,000 watts of solar power and should produce 12-13 gallons per minute in bright sunlight.

The rancher used a 1" pvc pipline to run the water from the newly drilled 5" well around the pond dam and down into the pond. This solar well pump application should produce around 8-9 thousand gallons per day in bright summer sunlight hours.

This Rancher also chose to clear several cedar trees in the pond area to take advantage of all the water the solar pump will provide. Cedars are known to rob lots of water, up to 50 gallons per day each. Removing all you can from a desired water storage location is beneficial in a pond or earth tank scenario.

For nearly 30 years the people of Advanced Power Inc. have been known for manufacturing and producing some of the best solar water pumps and water pumping systems in the industry. We are happy to keep that tradition alive.

If you have a need for pumping water in a remote location please give us a call and see what one of our solar powered water pumping systems can do for you. You'll love our friendly people and our great prices.

You can view a video of a smaller pump install here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKhYf8989oM

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If you enjoyed our article won't you please consider sharing it on facebook and twitter and help spread the word about our quality solar water pumps. 

Large Solar Powered Well Helical Rotor Pump Installed on a Ranch West of Vici OK for Wildlife Watering.

Monday May 4th, 2015 Advanced Power employees embarked on a mission to assist a rancher in Western OK install one of our large deep well/ high flow helical rotor solar pumps. This particular application was a new well that had been drilled to provide water to an old pond location to help put fresh water in the area for wildlife. There are an abundance of deer, turkey and quail in the area and this solar powered pump system will provide them fresh drinking water.

We had traveled out and viewed the site a few days before and went ahead and dug the hole for the solar panel mounting pole and set it in concrete so it could have a few days to set up and get solid before we placed the load (solar modules) on it. This is a fairly good sized solar array at 1,000 watts and we wanted to be sure the pole had plenty of time to set up. Pictured is the 4 1/2" pole and the 5" well casing for the new well they just had drilled.

The Pole for the Array and the New Well

The rancher trenched a line from the new well around the end of the pond damn so that he could bury the 1"  pvc line that would be used to carry the water from the well to the pond area. Since freezing weather can be a problem in OK like it can in many parts of the US it's important to bury the line to prevent freezing. As this was part of the process we installed a pitless adapter down below frost level in the well casing so there would not need to be any pipes exposed to the freezing elements during winter time use. You can see the pitless adapter pictured below. We drilled a hole in the side of the casing to do the pitless install.

The Below Ground Pitless Adapter to Combat Freezing Weather 

We unloaded the large solar array and then prepared to lift it up onto the pole. 

The Solar Array Preparing to Set on Pole

We had already placed the

pump pipe and fittings on the solar powered pump at the shop as well as taped the pump electric cable to the pipe ever 8-10 feet or so before heading out to the location. In the picture below we are attaching the safety rope to the pump.

The Large Helical Rotor Pump

We ran the electrical pump cable from the well to the solar panels in conduit to provide extra protection to the wire and to make a neater and cleaner installation. 

Running Conduit for Electrical Wire

Once the solar array was placed on the pole and adjustments were made to set proper tilt angle and direction (face modules to the south) then mounting angle adjustment bolts were tightened to hold the alignment. 

Tightening Set Bolts for Solar Panel Angel

This solar powered water pump system is wired with a simple high volt on/off switch. The black box. 

On/Off Switch

Note the additional wind brace located near the switch. It's bolted to the panel mount then attached to the pole for additional support and to hold the solar panels in place during extreme winds. 

K1000H 1000 watt solar array for solar water pump installed.

A simple neat and clean installation of a high powered solar water pumping system. This system should produce roughly 8-9 thousand gallons per day from 100 feet of lift pumping approximately 12 gallons per minute.  It would have only required about half as much power to produce that much water in bright sunlight but when you up-size the solar power you get much better solar pump performance earlier in the morning and late evening and in other lower light situations. You can bring the solar pump to full flow quicker and hold full flow longer the more solar power you have. Even the the solar pump has a limit to it's maximum gallon per minute output, you can achieve more gallons per day by increasing your pumping time with more solar power. 

We at Advanced Power Inc. are excited to have another satisfied customer. We have been assisting people with their water pumping needs for nearly 30 years. 

Video of the install coming soon! 

View the video at the link below. 

http://solarpumpguy.blogspot.com/2015/05/view-video-of-advanced-power-inc.html

View a video of a smaller pump system installation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKhYf8989oM

http://solarpumpguy.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-solar-water-pumps-are-great-fit-for.html

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Thank you!