Solar Powered Swimming Pool Pump Motor

Hmmm......

240V @ 7A is 1680W.

Say the inverter is 80% efficient, that makes it, er, 2100W.

Taking the strength of sunlight as 800W/m2 typical on a good day and the collection efficiency of a solar panel as 5% (other efficiencies are available), then, er, one needs around 53m2 of solar panel to provide the grunt.

Er, what's the surface area of this pool? Dum, de, dum.......

Er, could non-electrical circulation techniques, like thermosyphoning, provide the flowrate required?

Just a few thoughts.......

why would you convert solar power into electric first before turn into heat? convert it straight into heat instead and use electric/gas boosting accordingly.

the solar water heating elements are not very efficient either but i guess better than the electric ones. you could design your own solar water-panel/s and placing them in a vacuum sealed box that sould idealy make it work well in cold also, i am talking about the primary circuit.

it does get complicated a little but in the long run should pay itself off.

Hi Some food for thought,

Have you ever heard about a solor pump which work from DC, you dont need a inverter. Why would you want the pool pump to be on battery backup?

But seriously folks...It would be more efficient to use solar power to heat the water and regular electricity (or wind generated electricity?) to pump it.
Del

But if he would just install the solar water heater below the pool, wouldn't natural convection circulate the water without a pump?

Yeh, there would be some convection but nowhere near the flow you get from a 1.5kw pump.
Maybe build a loooong thin pool on a North South axis and use the Coriolis force?

I think you are looking for a circulating pump for your pool, for cleaning correct. If so try these sites, if they don't work let me know or if it is not what you need. I could probably head you in the right direction

eta engineering solar pool pump

ABC solar pool pump

There are many sources for a system to put in place. there are DC powered pumps up to 1 1/2 HP and it take approximately 3 panel to power it and create back up power. also you can get an inverter and be tied into the grid just in case. There are many many sites out there that I have found just googleing the topic. I have future plans of building a pool and found it will take about 4,000.00 to do this. if I save 100.00 or more per month in Texas then it would take 20 months to regain my investment because you can get a 2,000.00 rebate from fed gov.

JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. THANKS.

Try to target agricultural stores (farming). In South Africa they are a dime a dozen, look for solar powered bore hole pumps. They have backup batteries working on lower DC voltage. Might serve your purpose.

Sorry, I gave you the wrong answer, didn't I?

you're after the powering of the pool pump. In that case I cannot help.

I guess using solar generated power as much as possible is a good idea. if it is only to drive the pool pump may not be worth the effort alone.

I have seen pumps that power fountains during daylight with one PV panel and one deep cell battery.

But for a filter pump, as the gentlmen above calculated, empowering needs are high. And the payback exists only in the satisfaction of not paying the utility for power, and, of course, the neat ability to power the pump by nature.

It is a questionable tradeoff though for the sake of less pollution because of the toxic nature of storage batteries - especially if they are not intensively managed.

In an aside though I agree, one can use thermosyphon (without power) for heating a pool by locating the flat plate collector lower than the pool.

Kind regards . . . cornelius