# Up and running again



## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

I finally got my solar system running, and pumping water again. I had been fighting is for over a couple years after we had a lightning strike take out the charge controller and fried the diodes in the solar panels. Replaced them, but it just never worked right. A year ago I bought two new 320 watt panels to replace the cheap RV panels I had. I also had been fighting charge controller, replaced several of those. Just before Christmas my system went down. I decided it was time to stop being so cheap, and buy a good quality charge controller, add in another battery, and convert the system from 12 volt to 24 volt. 

Now after spending the last three weeks swapping out batteries to keep the pump going during the day all of my parts finally arrived. I put the two solar panels in series, put the four batteries in series parallel to make a 24 volt system. Added in a converter to drop the voltage from 24 down to 12 because the pump is 12 volts. Put in a breaker so I can cut the power from the panels and a breaker between the batteries and the charge controller. Yesterday when I started working on this the temp was not to bad, but then the clouds rolled in and it got cold; I did get it all done yesterday. Looked at it this afternoon and everything is working great; the batteries are full charge. The cows seem happy that they have nice clean water to drink. 

Note to self when you try to be cheap cheap cheap, you are going to pay pay pay. 

I think I may just have this solar thing figured out, well until something else come up.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

May I ask why switch to 24 volt battery configuration then utilize a converter to get back to 12 volts. Why not 100% 12 volt system?


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Mostly to make the system more efficient. In a 12 volt system I would need a 60 amp charge controller, and they can get very expensive. I was looking at about $300 for a good quality charge controller. By going to a 24 volt system I only need a 30 amp charge controller thereby reducing my cost down to about $160, and I can reduce the size of the wires because I am pushing less amperage through them. My biggest cost of this upgrade was adding another $200 battery. I could have probably got buy with a cheaper converter, but I didn't want to have to go work on it again. Also with the extra battery that give me more run time. 

I am not an expert when it come to this, but I think I was trying to push to many amps through my wiring; I think I was overloading my cheap charge controller and burning them up. 

I now have 4 100 amp hour batteries; the charge controller will only allow the batteries to be discharged down to 50%, so I have about 200 amp hours of run time. The pump pulls about six amps, so this should give me about 30 hours of run time. So my pump should run all night without the system shutting down, and keeping the tank from freezing up. 

This upgrade cost me about $500, but I should not have to do anything else to it. I think I know just enough about solar to be dangerous. Maybe someday I will add a solar system to the house and outbuildings.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I wish you good luck with your 24 volt system. My experience with tractors is I'll take a 12 volt system any time over 24 volt system on a tractor. My knowledge of utilizing solar to charge battery is very limited to my electric operated gate opener.


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

Glad it's working out for you. I've noticed that trying to be cheap more often than not costs you more in the end because now you gotta go buy what you should have the first time! But sometimes I'm surprised and the cheapie stuff works surprisingly good and that keeps the flame lit. I guess that's what chronic gamblers feel like? Beats me....


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Ox76 said:


> Glad it's working out for you. I've noticed that trying to be cheap more often than not costs you more in the end because now you gotta go buy what you should have the first time! But sometimes I'm surprised and the cheapie stuff works surprisingly good and that keeps the flame lit. I guess that's what chronic gamblers feel like? Beats me....


Yep. I don't know how many times I bought a cheap tool, it did not work out, and I ended up buying the tool I should have bought the first go around.


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## FCF (Apr 23, 2010)

Those who have personally been around me for a few years have heard me say "There's a difference between cheap and value. Cheap doesn't mean an item is the best value."


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

You pay now or you pay later. Either way you WILL pay.


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## Markpnw (Dec 27, 2019)

How many Gallons per minute can your solar system pump? Just curious I’ve got a shallow well on one of my leases water seems to be good just no power and instead of bringing water to the cows I’m thinking of putting that well into use.


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Markpnw said:


> How many Gallons per minute can your solar system pump? Just curious I’ve got a shallow well on one of my leases water seems to be good just no power and instead of bringing water to the cows I’m thinking of putting that well into use.


I think it pumps about 12 gallons a minute. I tied into our drain line coming out of our alfalfa field, so we are only pumping water up no more than five feet. It has a max head of 20 meters. Below is a link to the pump I have, mine is the 12 volt. 









AKENT DC12V Brushless Solar Water Pump 2000L/H 20m max Head Submersible Deep Well Pump Solar Powered Pump - - Amazon.com


AKENT DC12V Brushless Solar Water Pump 2000L/H 20m max Head Submersible Deep Well Pump Solar Powered Pump - - Amazon.com



www.amazon.com


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

CowboyRam
Which wires are you having less amps with? I would think wire supplying 12 volt pump would have same amps regardless if it's a 12 volt system or 24 volt converted to 12 volts system. Is converter located very near pump?


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

With solar panels, when they are in parallel you add the amps together. For example with my two solar panels they both output about 10 amp each, that makes 20 total. When you run those two panels in series you add the voltage together. The volts for each panel is about 40 volts, so that makes for 80 volts for both panels. 

The wires between the panels to the charge controller and the charge controller needs to be bigger wire. The wire between the charge controller and the load does not have to be so big, so yes you are right when it comes to those wires. 
I have pretty short runs for everything. Here is a picture of my set up, before the upgrade. There is a box behind the panels that I have the batteries in.


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