Hi @Hostafan1 of course.. The system I have looked at ( thus far!) is £149.00 Primrose product number Code: WF3619B , I may need 2 of these. Sounds a bit extravagant, but when compared to the cost of running pumps electrically ( I have had lots of fish ponds) It won't take long to gobble £300 up. I have no doubt it will be more expensive than £300..but I am prepared to work it all out. @UpNorth I love Gunnera's :-) Have you seen them at Heligan?...gorgeous A long time ago I gardened in Spain and Gibraltar, I made a stream for a client, from memory it was about 60 ft long plus waterfall over glass sheeting, (Stunning effect) a few ponds etc...and we powered it with a swimming pool pump! the pump cost a small fortune, as did the running of it...but it looked truly magical. He was fairly wealthy! I wanted to do the same here, but with a bit cheaper running costs. We are in Somerset, with a natural slope, Blue lias stone quarries everywhere so I intend to line the rivulet ( over the obligatory pond liner) in stone with larger pieces edging...tiny bog gardens spotted here and there, by the side as it meanders through Crataegus monogyna 'Pauls scarlett', Syringa ( Madame Lemoine etc) etc etc...all very romantic :-) I have in situ ( previous owners) a large Himalyan Birch ( central, but dappled shade) and a Cersis Canadensis, both are staying. However at the moment I am ear height in brambles and elderflower! But we have borrowed a huge shredder and a sunny long weekend. And Gauntlets. And a large bag of bloody-mindedness :-) As I said, I love a challenge :-)
Nothing to add about pump technology but this sounds like good project so I hope you'll keep us up to date with progress and pics.
PV technology has come on leaps and bounds in the few years sicne we had them installed to provide electricity for our last house. We are hoping to do it here too and 7 panels will suffice to heat water and run my 3 ovens, 3 fridges and 2 freezers plus light the house and run all our gadgets and, if we go ahead, heat a pool.
European made panels with recyclable parts that have a 25 year guarantee and integral heat exchange pumps behind for added energy and batteries to store energy. Amazing.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
That depends on budgets and planning permission I'm afraid so is last on my list to do tho higher on OH's. I certainly won't use one that isn't heated!
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
@secret garden, " If I took some of the opinions 'to heart', I may have given up on my idea and that would have been a shame".
As with everything in life. There is so much wet blanketing of solar power out there. It's kind of strange. I keep researching putting panels on my roof and meet a wall of scepticism. You have inspired me to keep hold of my idea and not be put off. Good luck with your project. I'd love to see photos.
If you invest in good quality European panels they will work very well and last a long time and the parts can be recycled at the end of their life - unlike cheaper Chinese and Philippine and even USA models. They are unobtrusive and silent - except when the captor dooberry hums cos it's happily working at full blast. They work on cloudy days too and they don't interfere with wildlife or human health, unlike those ghastly wind turbines.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast. "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
@Firefly∆ My father always said I never listen to anyone :-D I took it as a compliment! I can't remember who said 'the extraordinary can be done immediately, the impossible takes two weeks'... I may have improvised there :-) There is always a way...
Hello I didn't reply to your initial query because I don't have a recommendation to offer on a solar pump. We have a pump that runs from a solar panel, but the two are not specifically made to go together and it's hard to know from a simple query whether someone would have the wherewithal to put the bits together and make their own system as we did and as - it turns out - you're now doing. I think, from my own research, that is the way to go if you don't want a fountain - they seem to be the only readily available packaged kits.
Anyway - sounds like you found the answer so good luck.
On roof mounted PV, we've had our 4kW array since 2014. It faces East - we don't have a south facing roof - and it's a thin film rather than a crystalline panel type. Thin film panels are less efficient at peak output than the crystalline types, but are better in lower light conditions and at less than optimum aspect. We have consistently had well over 3MWh of electricity each year since it was installed. In the Winter quarter, we get about 50 - 70 kWh in a typical month. In the Summer quarter we get almost 600kWh per month. Not sure where @UpNorth you get your figures from but these numbers are measured outputs not theoretical predictions.
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first”
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@UpNorth I love Gunnera's :-) Have you seen them at Heligan?...gorgeous
A long time ago I gardened in Spain and Gibraltar, I made a stream for a client, from memory it was about 60 ft long plus waterfall over glass sheeting, (Stunning effect) a few ponds etc...and we powered it with a swimming pool pump! the pump cost a small fortune, as did the running of it...but it looked truly magical. He was fairly wealthy!
I wanted to do the same here, but with a bit cheaper running costs. We are in Somerset, with a natural slope, Blue lias stone quarries everywhere so I intend to line the rivulet ( over the obligatory pond liner) in stone with larger pieces edging...tiny bog gardens spotted here and there, by the side as it meanders through Crataegus monogyna 'Pauls scarlett', Syringa ( Madame Lemoine etc) etc etc...all very romantic :-) I have in situ ( previous owners) a large Himalyan Birch ( central, but dappled shade) and a Cersis Canadensis, both are staying.
However at the moment I am ear height in brambles and elderflower! But we have borrowed a huge shredder and a sunny long weekend. And Gauntlets. And a large bag of bloody-mindedness :-) As I said, I love a challenge :-)
PV technology has come on leaps and bounds in the few years sicne we had them installed to provide electricity for our last house. We are hoping to do it here too and 7 panels will suffice to heat water and run my 3 ovens, 3 fridges and 2 freezers plus light the house and run all our gadgets and, if we go ahead, heat a pool.
European made panels with recyclable parts that have a 25 year guarantee and integral heat exchange pumps behind for added energy and batteries to store energy. Amazing.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
As with everything in life. There is so much wet blanketing of solar power out there. It's kind of strange. I keep researching putting panels on my roof and meet a wall of scepticism. You have inspired me to keep hold of my idea and not be put off. Good luck with your project. I'd love to see photos.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Fabulous. I will put that on my wall!
"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." Often misattributed to G B Shaw.
Anyway - sounds like you found the answer so good luck.
On roof mounted PV, we've had our 4kW array since 2014. It faces East - we don't have a south facing roof - and it's a thin film rather than a crystalline panel type. Thin film panels are less efficient at peak output than the crystalline types, but are better in lower light conditions and at less than optimum aspect. We have consistently had well over 3MWh of electricity each year since it was installed. In the Winter quarter, we get about 50 - 70 kWh in a typical month. In the Summer quarter we get almost 600kWh per month. Not sure where @UpNorth you get your figures from but these numbers are measured outputs not theoretical predictions.