Solar Well Pump Linear Current Booster Photos
Ron Castle's Simple Pump

We drilled our water well at www.nealcreekfarm.com in April 2011 and installed our Simple Pump as a hand pump initially.  The installation took two of us an hour and twenty minutes to put the pump at 91.5 feet in a 100 foot well.

Simple Pump Hand Pump

The motorized head to operate the pump as a solar well pump was added in May 2011 so that the block layers working on our new off grid house construction could make mortar.

The pump house is now completed and the installation of the solar pump powered by a 210 watt Evergreen 12 volt solar panel and a linear current booster is finished.

The pump house is 8 x 12 feet with a 10 foot roof on the high side for
future maintenance of the Simple Pump cylinder which is attached to
10 sections of 9 foot Schedule 120 PVC pipe.

The 210 watt panel is mounted to the block wall on T-hinges using Tapcon
concrete anchors.  This allows an easy panel angle change from 20 degrees
in the summer to 50 degrees in the winter.  To the left is a Midnite Solar
combiner box with a 20 amp breaker and Delta lightning arrestor.

The conduit through the wall brings the current from the combiner box
to a 4 connection terminal strip. The positive is connected to the red linear
current booster wire, negative is connected to black.  From the linear
current booster the white wire is connected to the pump positive and
blue to negative.  The Simple Pump has a built in switch with fuse so
no further overcurrent protection is required.  Some folks might want to
also use a DC rated breaker.  15 amp works.  The lower pipe on the wall
goes to fill the storage tank.  The upper pipe is being stored for the
addition of a outside frost-proof faucet.

The linear current booster wiring is simple, made easier with a terminal
strip and crimp ends for the wiring.

I added a second terminal strip and a 30 amp relay to handle the amp
requirements of the Simple Pump motor so that I could use an 8 amp
mercury free float switch to turn the pump on and off according to the
water level in the tank.  See our low voltage relay wiring for off grid solar
page for a video and instructions on how to wire a relay.

Pardon the tools on top of the tank.  This is a 550 gallon storage tank
which will gravity feed water to the house and to Sunshine Cottage.  The water
will be boosted in each dwelling by a small pressure pump.
 

Gentlemen take note: A platform will be built over the tank because sleeping
in the pump house will be warmer than sleeping in the dog house during the winter.

No, we don't have a leak.  The drain line to the right was used to fill a
water bottle.  The far line goes out through the floor to a tee which splits
one to the house and one to the cottage and both of those lines have their own shut
off valve.  If you note the water level in the tank, Simple Pump pumped about
450 gallons on September 28 from when the sun first created enough amps
to start the pump motor until 12:20 PM.  I was not there when the pump
started.  My guess is about 9:30 AM. We are pumping about 2.8 gallons per
minute and I do not have the pump stoke set at the maximum, because the
pump will easily meet our daily needs running in the middle stoke setting.

Now that we are fully operational I will be recording some information that will be useful regarding specific performance under specific conditions.  This will help us to make better recommendations regarding linear current booster pumping versus batteries when water volume per day is critical.

If you need design assistance for your small water system for your Simple Pump, can do.