We have a 25 acre field about two miles away from the home farm. A few years ago we put a fence around it but we didn’t have water so we just used it as a hayfield and a pasture in the winter.
We put in a deep well a few years ago but I didn’t want the electric bill so it just sat there. Then I thought of solar. We’ve been using a solar fencer for years so I did some research. I learned that most of the old windmills out west are now using solar water systems. I got in touch with RPS (rural power systems) and I was rolling.
I was connected with an engineer and we designed a system that would work for us. Sure there was money up front but there would be no monthly utility bills going forward and we would burn no fossil fuels to operate it.
We bought the complete system (turn key) as that came with everything I would need except for the pipe to hold the panels.
Our well was covered by trees so I put the panels along the north fence line which got full sun. I ran two one inch tubes the 275 feet from the well, one for water and the other for the power wires. I also ran a one inch tube all the way around the twenty five acres to water the animals.
We dropped the pump down the well , connected the wires from the controller and we had water.
The plastic pipe came in rolls of 300 feet. I put a quick connector at each joint. I also planted a red oak tree at each location which made it easy to water the trees. I hung a twenty gallon water bag on each tree so I only had to water them once a week. All trees look great after two years.
We use electro net for our sheep. These 80 ewes get about a third of a net every day. We like to wait until the alfalfa has some flowers at which point we dare to put the sheep on it. Too soon and some may die from bloat.
This year we baled the majority of the third cutting hay but left a strip around the field to graze the sheep on. That’s perfect forage to get them ready for breeding (flushing).
Naturally I was worried about what would happen if the sun didn’t shine. I fixed this by putting a 250 gallon tank on the highest point of the property so I would have a reservoir if we had a week of cloudy, rainy days. I hooked the tank up to the main line, shut the valve and connected a hose to a tank float in the top of the tank. Once the tank fills up, the tank is full in case we ever need 250 gallons of reserve water. If the pump isn’t running we can open the valve and we are good for a week.
The kit came with a great book explaining all the steps we needed to make it operational.
Solar system RPS 800 was easy to install for our first time insulation. We are pumping 8+ gallons per minute with pump set at 80 feet. We are using an 11 foot diameter rubber tire tank with a 4” drain pipe. The back 2/3 of tank are covered with 18”of dirt for insulation. The open part of tank faces south. We hang 12” belting from the bridge plank into the water to keep out the cold. When the sun shines the water pumps so ice does not stay on the tank. We also have a 110 volt generator and conversion kit for when the sun does not shine. So far we are very happy with the whole system. I have attached 3 views of our set up. We are currently watering 250 cows here.
Right now I am running the following circuits off of solar:
30A/220V well pump
30A/120 aerobic septic aerator and pump
2 fridges and one freezer
A couple of general circuits for my living room and kitchen (includes lights, fans, computer, TV)
So far, even in the lower sunlight hours of winter, the solar has been able to keep up with my demand. As we get more sunlight, I will add a few more circuits (I monitor battery capacity daily at the start and end of each day). The nice thing is that I can switch any of the 11 circuits to solar or grid by a flip of a switch on the TS. For example, we do a lot of watering in the Texas heat in the summer – I can flip the well pump to grid when watering so as not to deplete the batteries as fast.
I think the trailer is more designed for portable use, and not necessarily as a permanent, non-mobile solution. Certainly the slide out frames for the panels are not as robust as a permanent ground mounted system for the panels, so we’ll see over time how that holds up to be deployed 24/7. But a big part of what I like about this is that it is fully self-contained – the batteries and inverter are nicely configured in the trailer. Had I just gone with a traditional fixed panel system (e.g. ground mounted panels), I would have had to provide an additional structure to house the batteries and inverter.
I was quite surprised as to the quality and attention to detail when receiving the DIY total kit. The step-by-step directions provided were easy to understand and fool proof after utilizing the many YouTube videos RPS made available.
I went with eight 100 watt panels purchased ahead of time and added an extension due to the larger size. This worked out after making a call to the support line for assistance.
I highly recommend RPS to anyone looking to go with solar powered well water off grid. The quality and support are top notch!
