Homestead mailing list

["Don Bowen" <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

> One difficulty with solar power is that the solar cells on the roof or
> wherever make direct current.  In order to have electricity of the
> sort used by many household systems, (and most well pumps) you have to
> both store the power and then make it into alternating current.  This
> means batteries and somewhat sophisticated electronic conversion
> devices.

There are DC well pumps on the market designed for solar systems.  A solar
cell does not put out a constant power, it varies with time of day, cloud
cover, etc.  A submersible well pump designed for solar can handle the
voltage swings so there is no need for battery storage.  There is still a
need for storage but the pressure tanks of sufficient size can provide that
rather than batteries.

Don Bowen  KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html