Avoid the dry summer season!

Winter is at an end and summer is right around the corner!

Sooner than you think, you will find yourself in endless sunny days and brutal heat, but will you find you and your livestock prepared for it?

The rising temperatures will put an end to worrying about ice, snow, and the freezing conditions, but it comes with its own set of concerns. With the days being hotter, and longer, livestock can really be put at risk if not properly and adequately hydrated.

For example, cows can require up to 30 gallons of water per day, depending on the age, size and environmental conditions. This means that they need good clean water available all the time. 
Water is a necessity for routine body functions such as:

·      Temperature control

·      Waste excretion

·      Electrolyte balance

·      Digestion

  

Cattle are not the only livestock that require plenty of water either; pigs need to have a clean water source due to their inability to sweat, and chickens that are stressed from dehydration consume less food, which means they grow smaller, and produce fewer eggs. 

Wildlife also will live where there is a reliable water source.

Advanced Power Inc. has been the solution for a variety of water pumping needs for nearly 30 years, and we have done it simply by using the clean renewable energy of the sun.

API’s solar pump systems can provide from 1 gallon per minute up to 13 gallons per minute with full sun.

In each of our systems, we use only state of the art solar cell panels, each backed by a 25-year power output guarantee; and all of our solar water pumps come with a minimum two-year warranty because we want to be certain that we are crafting the very best for our customers.












Preparation for the summer heat starts today! Please give us a call at 866.519.7892 or send us an email at sales@solarpumps.com and let one of our experienced specialists assist you in selecting the perfect solar pumping system for your situation.

Visit our website for more information on our products

www.solarpumps.com

If you are interested in living off of the clean and renewable energy of the sun,
feel free to call us at  866.519.7892

or send us an email at sales@solarpumps.com 

and let one of our qualified specialists help you find your solution to fit your specific solar needs.

Author: Robert Rhynes

Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, let's chat below in the comments section or feel free to share it with your friends!

Submersible Water Pumps Vs. Surface Mounted

API's solar system, K170 pumping water into a pond.

When in the market for a good, quality water pump, there are two different types: submersible and surface mounted. Knowing which one to choose is crucial, and will vary depending on your situation.

Surface mounted pumps allow easy access to the pump itself, but because of the environment, they may require access more often.

You will face environmental conditions, weather, theft or vandalism, install complications:

• Winter storms can really affect the productivity and results of a surface pump because it is not below the freezing line, which can cause trapped water to expand inside the pump which could lead to several problems like freezing.

• Flash floods, wildlife, and thunderstorms can also be a great risk because surface mounted pumps are not as shielded from their surroundings, unlike submersible pumps.

• Another disadvantage is the amount of energy surface pumps use; the water must first be moved up out of a water source by a suction force before it can actually reach the pump, this process requires a lot more power than an apparatus that already has the water readily available.

Our in-house CNC machined aluminum solar water pumps

Submersible pumps as their name portrays, are completely submerged in a clean water source. This gives them a number of advantages over their unprotected counterparts.

• One huge thing is their efficiency; water pressure will naturally force water into a submerged pump rather than utilizing energy to do so.
• Being submerged all the time, submersible pumps do not require manual priming, which can easily become a very time consuming chore.
• Surface mounted pumps are also known to be much louder, and since it is on the surface, it just looks out of place. If you plan on using a water pump near a home or just want to keep nature looking natural, opting for the submersible may be the option for you.

Customer Photo of API's largest system pumping almost 13GPM!

A chief complaint with both types of pumps is their impact on electric bills, but here at Advanced Power Inc., we utilize the power of the sun to run our top of the line submersible water pumps, and have been recognized as a leader in the industry for nearly 30 years. Our certified engineers have used the latest in CNC design programs, along with the process of trial and error to craft one of the most efficient and dependable solar pumps on the market.

API's glass-less "Flex" solar panels are now available!

Our solar pumps can deliver up to 5460 gallons of water per day at a flow rate of 13 gallons per minute under ideal conditions, all without raising your electric bill; instead we use quality grade “A” solar cell panels that guarantee dependable performance for over 25 years.

Throughout our 30 years of experience, we have learned that no situation is completely alike, so we have developed various systems at Advanced Power Inc. to ensure we can meet any water pumping need.

Visit our website for more information on our products

www.solarpumps.com

If you are interested in living off of the clean and renewable energy of the sun, feel free to call us at 

866.519.7892

or send us an email at sales@solarpumps.com 

and let one of our qualified specialists help you find your solution to fit your specific solar needs.

Author: Robert Rhynes

Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, let's chat below in the comments section or feel free to share it with your friends!

Homestead Living

Are you ready to go “off the grid”

and be independent of utilities? Are you ready to rely on nothing but the Earth’s natural and renewable energy?

My family has been “off the grid” for almost a decade and nothing is sweeter! The air I breathe feels cleaner and the water I drink tastes crisper. I am truly living independently and only using natural resources from the Earth; however I still indulge in the comforts that most do today. I even have running water and electricity, but how?

“Off grid” living doesn’t mean you have to sleep in a dirt hole and carry your water to your home in a bucket, it just means to be off of any utility grid. It’s not too common to live off of renewable energy, but for those who do; it can be liberating, cheap, and it can relieve unwanted stress. People create renewable energy homes for a number of reasons:

• Cost- to eliminate the monthly cost of a utility bill or just to access utilities such as running water for homes that cannot be supplied by other means, perhaps a home that is in the mountains, miles from a city.

• 

  Above is a solar pump from Advanced Power Inc. using renewable energy in Montana.

  Environment- to use less energy extracted from environmentally harmful methods and use more safe and renewable energy.
• Independence- Off-grid living will relieve you of dependency on the electrical utility and will allow you to live off the beaten path.

Renewable energy can be a solution for many things, and the first step to crafting this safe haven is to find a way to provide fresh water. If you have a well, a spring, or stream or river, then you can have running water. Solar powered water pumps make this possible, and Advanced Power Inc. is one of the most trusted names in the solar pumping industry. Our systems harness the enormous power of the sun and convert it into DC power, which can then be used to run our top of the line solar powered water pumps. We offer many system sizes, some which can pump up to 5,460 gallons per day to ensure you can find the most efficient solar pumping system to meet your water pumping needs.

Our variety of small variety of small panel charger kits pictured here.

This kind of output means our solar pumps have to be reliable, durable and versatile to maintain the tough workload placed on them. Each of our products are also tested and inspected after being hand crafted right here in the USA to guarantee your products are free of defects and running at maximum efficiency.

One of our small panel charger kits charging an ATV.

Our products have been used around the globe to aid people in their “off the grid” efforts, but we also have products that give you the comfort that I mentioned earlier. At Advanced Power Inc., we offer products such as solar lighting, portable batteries and solar charge controller kits that vary from 5 watts to 20 watts, and they can come in either 12 or 6 volts to meet your individual needs. 

This is the ideal way to charge or maintain your batteries for tractors, mowers, ATVs, fencers, or any equipment that may require batteries. Our systems are easy to install and move from well to well!

Visit our website for more information on our products

www.solarpumps.com

If you are interested in living off of the clean and renewable energy of the sun, feel free to call us at 866.519.7892 or send us an email at sales@solarpumps.com and let one of our qualified specialists help you find your solution to fit your specific solar needs.

Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, let's chat below in the comments section or feel free to share it with your friends!

Author: Robert Rhynes

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.

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.

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

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

Follow us on Facebook and check out our customer reviews there

https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedPowerInc

www.solarpumps.com

www.apiok.com

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. www.solarpumps.com or call us for a hassle free quote at 866.519.7892.

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

Follow us on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedPowerInc

www.solarpumps.com

www.apiok.com

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. 

Rotational Grazing Information Including Water Supply

An Article from Ohio State University with information about rotational grazing and water supplies.
Click the link below to view the article.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/gsg/gsg_6.html

Solar powered water pumps can be instrumental in providing water in rotational grazing operations.

View solar pumps from Advanced Power Inc. at www.solarpumps.com or apiok.com. 

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

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

Follow us on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/AdvancedPowerInc

www.solarpumps.com

www.apiok.com