Solar Water Pump
Building a solar-powered water system
We have a pond at the bottom of our property. It's a great water source for
watering the gardens, but we couldn't get the water uphill to the gardens without a pump.
Our solution was to install a solar water pump. Two 85-watt solar
panels directly power a ShurFlo submersible pump with no batteries. When it
is sunny the pump pushes pond water over 200-feet up the hill to a storage tank
for irrigating our organic gardens. This also powers water flow for the fountain
of youth which is next to the waterslide
of death. The fountain doubles as a
watering trough for our flock of black sheep and llamas, and we now lay claim
to the highest solar powered waterslide in the world... although it can be quite cold.
Black Sheep Inn has researched and designed a hybrid solar/wind electric
system, which we were able to partially finance with the prize money from winning the
Smithonian Magazine/Tourism Cares for Tomorrow - Sustainable Tourism Award in the Conservation Category.
After having monitored electrical use since 2003,
Black Sheep Inn has lowered electrical use from an average of 12.5 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day to about 11 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day. All light
bulbs on the property are compact fluorescents. Most light switches are
labeled advising guests to conserve energy. On average there are 20 people
(including guests) living at the Black Sheep Inn fulltime.
Currently all cooking and heating of water for showers is done with propane.
Additionally there are plans to add solar hot water heaters and bio-gas digesters to
offset propane consumption.
7 to 8 kWh can be saved daily by replacing four 110-volt electric refrigerators
with more efficient propane powered refrigerators. We have already replaced
desk top computers with laptops and electric coffee makers to stove top percolators.
| Electrical consumption | |
| Current Daily Electrical Use | 11 kWh |
| Replacing 4 Refrigerators saves | -7 kWh |
| Total Electrical Energy Needs | 4 kWh |
This leaves us with approximately 5 kWh per
day!!! Although this is LOW, we are going to design our hybrid
solar/wind system for 6 kWh per day... this capacity will compensate
for power tool use and the expansion of electric installations.
| Items to purchase | Cost | Total |
| 4 propane refrigerators | $ 1600 | $ 6000 |
| 3 laptop computers | ||
| 12 110-watt solar panels | $ 300 | $ 4500 |
| Wind Generator | $ 1500 | |
| two 12-volt battery banks | $ 2800 | $ 5600 |
| Inverter/Charger - 4000 watt | $ 4300 | |
| wiring, mounts, fuses | $ 1500 | |
| Labor | $ 1500 | |
| Shipping | $ 7000 | |
| Total | $31,900 |
Black Sheep Inn has been recognized for it's excellence in
conservation, ecological practices, community work and sustainability.
Innovative designs for construction and business practices have made the
Black Sheep Inn a leader in ecotourism.
