↓
 

Roy Creek Ranch

a Log Home in the Hill Country

Roy Creek Ranch
  • Home
  • About
    • Amazon Associates Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Posts

Post navigation

Solar Powered Rainwater Project

Roy Creek Ranch Posted on March 1, 2017 by JimJuly 14, 2017
This site contains affiliate links. Please read Disclaimer for more information.

If you’ve been following along, you’ve noticed several solar-powered projects here at Roy Creek Ranch. From a simple system to “top-up” the storage battery in the Teardrop trailer and upgrading it to make an off-grid camper, to powering my amateur radio station, I’ve been interested in harnessing the sun for some time. These projects add capabilities to our camping and radio experience. Adding solar panels, a charge controller and additional 12 volt outlets made it possible for us to camp without requiring “shore power” thus extending our ability to enjoy remote areas. Likewise, solar power makes emergency operation of an amateur radio station possible during severe weather even if the power grid or public service radio systems are down. In short, a little investment in solar power makes an outsized contribution to capabilities and enjoyment relative to the investment.

photo of the panel Installed with my friend's help

Installing Solar

The projects helped me learn about design and installation of modest solar systems and it’s time for the next project: powering a rainwater system with solar and making it off-grid capable. The idea developed over the last few months as we gained experience. While designing solar systems can be complex, many projects are within the reach of the average solar enthusiast with the help of a few formulas and basic explanations. I hope to outline this process in the next few posts by taking you along for the ride. By the end of the project, we will have an off-grid system to clean and pressurize water from large tanks of rainwater making it available in our house 24/7, year around, without help from the commercial power grid.There are several goals for the project:

  • measure the daily average power needed to pump rainwater for household use
  • design a solar power system to provide that power with at least 3 days of extra storage for overcast conditions
  • allow for the rapid change back to commercial power during equipment failures
  • keep the cost as low as possible
  • develop additional expertise in the design and installation process
  • collect data on the operation of the such a system
photo of a Kill A Watt Meter

Kill A Watt Meter

As mentioned in the goals, the first step is to understand how much power is needed. Anyone who has paid an electric bill knows a little something about this. For your home, the utility company installs a meter that measures the power used during a fixed period, usually a calendar month. That power use is measured in “kilowatt hours” or kWh. For this project, we want to power a specific part of our home, the rainwater system, not the whole house. Fortunately, this is easy to measure with a little tool called the “kill-a-watt” meter — available for just a few dollars. There are two 3/4 horsepower pumps in our rainwater system, one for each set of tanks. They are used one at a time. By plugging one of the pumps into the kill-a-watt meter and then plugging it into a 120 VAC outlet, we can measure the power used for a given period of time. The water pumps require a fair amount of power — about 1100 watts — but do so in short bursts of a few minutes per hour. Water pressure is maintained by a pressure tank so the pump doesn’t have to run every time a faucet is opened. Monitoring the meter over a week revealed about 1300 watt-hours of power consumed per day. This is what the solar system will have to supply.So what’s the difference between watts and watt-hours? Watts are a unit of power — the rate at which power is used. You might think of it as a rate of flow.  In the case of the 3/4 horse pump, power must flow at the rate of about 1100 watts in order for it to run. Watt-hours adds the time component and are a measure of energy. It represents the amount of work completed. If the pump were to run for one hour, It would have consumed 1100 watt-hours of power. It’s simply the power rate (watts) multiplied by the time (hours) power is in use. 1100 watts times 1 hour = 1100 watt-hours. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) is obtained by dividing watt-hours by 1000 (kilo-1000, 1300 watt-hours = 1.3 kWh) If you wanted to power several devices, you would measure their power use independently and add those numbers together. A search of the web finds several charts with average power use for typical appliances. This one from ConsumerReports.org is a good example. Now we have a starting point to design our system.

In the next installment, we’ll use this number to determine the panel area and storage battery capacity.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • More
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Posted in Central Texas, Gardening, maker, Projects, Rainwater, solar Tagged amateur, build, charge, controller, deep cycle, DIY, equipment, Grid-assist, grid-tie, ham radio, how to, howto, Interstate, inverter, kill-a-watt, kilowatt, kilowatt-hours, kWh, marine, mppt, off-grid, panel, pwm, rainwater, renogy, solar, storage, teardrop, trailer, wb0mmc permalink

Post navigation


Comments

Solar Powered Rainwater Project — 3 Comments

  1. Pingback:Solar Powered Rainwater Project – The Chinese Connection | Roy Creek Ranch

  2. Pingback:Solar Powered Rainwater Project – Batteries | Roy Creek Ranch

  3. Pingback:Solar Powered Rainwater Project – Completed? | Roy Creek Ranch

Subscribe via Email

To receive notifications of new posts:

Recent Posts

  • The Awesome Hyundai Ioniq5 and Free Solar Charging
  • Solar Ioniq5 EV Charging: Self-Reliance and Reduced Carbon Emissions
  • Really Great Lithium Ion Solar Battery: Copper Bus Bars
  • How to Add an Awesome Wood Stove for Winter Heat
  • Build a Really Big Lithium Ion Solar Battery: The Box

Recent Comments

  • Build A Great VPO — Part 2 : Salvage and Move | Roy Creek Ranch on Build A Great VPO – Part 3: Amp Repair
  • Solar Power And Ten Tec's Awesome Closet Kilowatt | Jim Kerkhoff on Build a Handy 12-Volt Solar Generator with LiFePo4 Batteries
  • How to Wire a Solar Power System - DC | Roy Creek Ranch on How to Wire a Solar System – Finished
  • How to Wire a Solar System - Finished | Roy Creek Ranch on How to Wire a Solar Power System – DC
  • A Practical 2 KW Shop Solar System | Roy Creek Ranch on How to Mount A Solar Panel Array

Archives

Categories

Amazon Associates Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

©2025 - Roy Creek Ranch - Weaver Xtreme Theme Privacy Policy
↑
 

Loading Comments...