[Jesse_workshop]

How deep is the well? There’s a few solar pumps on the market but may no go more that 100 ft. To run the 240v pumps it may be more than you think, I’m in the same boat and it’s about 4k to get a decent inverter and batteries.

I used “practical preppers” for my solar equipment and recommended them, they have some of the solar pumps available.

[Tommy-Gun]

Thanks for the info. The wells were dug 2 owners ago, so I don’t know for sure but the well guy I know said they are probably around 200 ft. deep.

[Tommy-Gun]

Also forgot to mention there are 4 wells on my property. One for the house, one for the small guest cabin and 2 for the pond. Previous owner told me that water loss in the pond is due to evaporation (yeah right) which I have already proved to be wrong. The garden area is near the pond, so what I will probably have to do is get a holding tank and run a line from the smaller pump so I can use drip tape but this doesn’t help with grid down or power outages.

[JeffL]

Motors can over-power small solar systems due to the startup or inrush current required to start them. There are newer pumps available that have a soft-start capability, but they are likely pricey. Send an email to Practical Preppers and they can tell you what your options are and help source what you need.

[Enginator]

There are boards that can be added to!help with startup inrush. They will s0ft-start a 220/240 pump. Otherwise it is had on thr pump and the solar. Contact Engineer 775

[BiggKidd]

It can be done easy enough just gotta dig a little deeper in the ole pocket. First you need to decide how many amps you’re going to need for everything you want on the system. Generally a single larger system is cheaper than a bunch of smaller systems. BUT that also depends on distance between things. Like here I need power at areas over a thousand feet apart. Still easy enough to accomplish with a single large system just not money wise in my case so I have two smaller systems. You have lots of options just do your homework. Far as I know there is no one source for knowledge like you’re asking about. Probably because the tech is changing so fast by the time something is written and printed it’s already out of date!

BTW I’ve lived off grid for the last 15 years………………………………………

[MartHale7]

I think the first thing to do is find your static level of your wells, and know how deep you are pumping the water from, and how many amps on each leg of the 240v is pulling. Water is life, and having a backup plan will keep life. You may be able to run your setup off a generator. On my system which is not a deep well, I went with a 120v, but my static level is only 35 feet down.

I agree with the suggestion of “practicle preppers” it is a great channel on Youtube for info on solar and well pumps.

[WVPreparedMind]

My well is 280 ft deep and requires a 240 volt system. Was going to cost around 10,000.00 for the set up. It is possible, but not cheap. Bluetti has a whole house plug amd play system now that will run that system. It was about 7,000 2 years ago. It may be less now. I run my well off of a gas generator that cost 800.00. It’s a 12,000 watt generator. Hope that helps! For 240 volts you have to have no less than 6,000 watts a spike wattage of 7,500 watts to run it properly.

I made myself crazy (lol) 2 years ago trying to do solar for my well pump. I’m a big fan of plug amd play and Bluetti is my favorite. Hope this helps you.

[CherithCreek]

Advice from an industrial automation engineer; I am still working full time, and in my spare time do a lot of engineering research for off-grid living in retirement. The most common mistake I see in the want-to-be off grid community, I fit this description, is people trying to jerry -rig on grid homes/systems/lifestyles to run off a solar array. Unless you have an endless supply of money it can’t be done. It is my opinion, you must change your way of thinking, homes/systems/lifestyles must be designed for off-grid not the other way around. Sojourner is on the right path pump water while the sun is shining. A small submersible 24vdc pump can lift water over 200ft at 1gpm directly from solar panels, so even if you only had 1 hour of sunlight a day you would have 60 gal of water, that’s a huge amount of daily water for an off-grid home; if it runs all day you can store huge amounts of water. There are endless ways of using on demand dc pumps to provide water pressure from a holding tank, like in an RV and they are already designed. You got a THINK off-grid.

If you do end up needing 240VAC, check out Victron equipment split phase installations.

[Camper_Jack]

Will Prowse has done lots of DIY solar system videos. You probably need a 24 volt solar system with a couple of 100@ LiPo batteries and a charger inverter that will power 240v. Then a flipover switch for running on grid power. Renogy is another resource. Check out DougandStacy.com to see their solar. Following others advice, pump once a day into a tank, then you can pump out of the tank with a different pump of your choice. I had an aerator tank in Florida, about 100 gallons, to evaporate the sulfur smell. That would run the house and get recharged by the well pump on a separate pump.

[Private_Cluck]

In-rush current on your deep well pump 240v motor is the challenge to overcome to successfully run on solar. Less expensive 240v inverters are not capable of handling the in-rush current. Once running, most pumps draw at less than 10 amps. You can use a soft-start controller on your pump to eliminate that start issue. I purchased one (Growatt 2.2kw LS – Solar Inverter) for my well a 2-3 years ago. Currently, Signature Solar has them for around $350. That controller has solar panel input for power (but cannot connect to batteries) and run during the day when there is sun.

[Tywiggle]

My static water is only 25 feet down or so in my deep well casing. Here is how I did it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQR4RClD4rc