solar powered pump

[Cold Drink]

Has anyone rigged up their pump to run on solar power? I've seen this solar powered pump:

http://store.altenergystore.com/Solar-Pool-Spa-Heating/Solar-Pool-Pumps/SunCentric-P-Solar-Pool-Pump/p467/?source=froogle

but $850 is way too steep and from reading the fine print it doesn't seem to have enough power to backwash. I'm just looking to save some money on my electric bill and was wondering if anyone has tried to power their pump with solar panels.

[JohnT]

In addition to the pump, you will need in the neighborhood of $3000 worth of panels, a $200 controller, and batteries to run it. A few states have tax incentives, but you will have at least $6000 invested for a pump that will probably be marginal for maintaining your pool.

[Poconos]

The other thing they don't tell you is the life expectancy of the solar cells. They do have their problems. Batteries, no matter what kind or how you care for them, will last maybe 5 years at the outside. These are recurring costs and are significant. If you want to pay for the exotic batteries used on spacecraft, then that's a different story. Probably nobody on the forum can afford them. Nah...stay away from photoelectric systems unless you have money to burn, no other choice, or are just a true GEEK.
Al

[Watermom]

or are just a true GEEK.
Al

Do we know anybody who is? :rolleyes:

[cleancloths]

Do we know anybody who is? :rolleyes:

I guess I am, I have a solar powered pump and it works great!

Well, let me backup and explain. I have a plain old Hayward Super-II pump with a 1.5HP 220V motor. It runs off my household electricity, but that is fed from both the grid and a 10,000 Watt PV array on my roof. So, effectively I have a solar powered pump.

Solar panels are expensive. Without a rebate they will run you around $7 a watt without the inverters. If you live in a state like NJ, they can make sense. When I put mine in the rebates were 70% of system cost, I think they are now only about 45%.

Panels are projected to last 20+ years and the system I have has a payback of just under 4 years. I am almost 3 years into having it and it works great. It generates about 1200 kwh per month.

[Poconos]

Cleancloths,
That sounds pretty neat. I'm curious about how many square feet of arrays you use for that 10 KW? I also assume you feed back into the grid so that eliminates the battery issue. A friend is looking at acquiring a property in a remote area of the Catskills that has no utilities and he's kicking around solar cells as a power source. He would have to deal with batteries though. Since you have a good history so far I'd appreciate any links with more info.
Thanks.
Al

[cleancloths]

I'm not sure I recall the exact size of the panels, but they are roughly 30" by about 52". I have 54 of them each rated at 185watts. They connect to 4 Sunnyboy inverters and as you guessed are grid-tied, so the grid is my battery. Battery systems are very expensive and not that reliable as the batteries have to be periodially replaced. I was adviced not to install such a system, and if we had problems of power failures it would be cheaper and better to install an auxilary generator. Check out the NJ state webpage to get the link to their clean energy site - it has great information on solar power systems.