Solar-Powered “Go-Anywhere” Pumps

2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #26

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Solar Pump Trailers from U.S. Solar Mounts let you pump water where you need it without a power source. The customized trailers hold the pump and a folded-up solar array. Tow it to the site, open the array, and watch the water flow.
“The Wisconsin Cranberry Association wanted to know if we could build solar-powered aeration systems for their fields, but one member was interested in pumping water,” explains Eric Pipkin, U.S. Solar Mounts. “We engineered a system to operate on a mobile platform.”
The biggest challenge was coming up with a dual access tracker that could collapse for road transport. Once on-site, the array is unfolded and elevated to rotate with the sun.
As word spread, Pipkin got more requests for trailer-mounted systems. “Each is customized to the customer’s needs, which drives the cost up,” says Pipkin. “Even the trailers are fabricated in-house. With so much customization to be done, there would be little left from a purchased trailer. Plus, we have yet to see a factory-built trailer with the quality we put into ours.”
The system design is built around how high and how far the water is to be pumped. Added to those parameters is how much water is to be pumped per day or per hour.
Customization includes not only the pump mounting and solar array, but also adding outriggers and a water tank for priming the pump. Even the outriggers are customized for the system.
The company uses all American sourced and manufactured steel. Parts are cut and fit to the purpose by a certified welder and CNC plasma cutter, in-house.
Most trailer-mounted systems have an upper limit of about 7 kW. That equates to a solar array of about 350 sq. ft.
“Any bigger than 7 kW would require a semi-trailer, and anchoring and ballast becomes an issue,” says Pipkin. “We did one where the entire trailer frame was fabricated to hold water. We filled the frame first when on-site, and it served as ballast.”
All trailer-mounted systems are 3-phase with a variable frequency drive fed by high voltage from the arrays. The company also builds smaller, single-phase, battery-powered, mobile systems with AC pumps. They are used for irrigating a remote garden or filling cisterns and water tanks.
While the latter are relatively inexpensive, the solar-powered, trailer-mounted pumps run from $25,000 to $80,000.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, U.S. Solar Mounts, 3498 Acorn Ave., Sparta, Wis. 54656 (ph 608-272-3999; info@ussolarmounts.us; www.ussolarmounts.us).

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Solar-Powered “Go-Anywhere” Pumps ENERGY Miscellaneous Solar Pump Trailers from U S Solar Mounts let you pump water where you need it without a power source The customized trailers hold the pump and a folded-up solar array Tow it to the site open the array and watch the water flow “The Wisconsin Cranberry Association wanted to know if we could build solar-powered aeration systems for their fields but one member was interested in pumping water ” explains Eric Pipkin U S Solar Mounts “We engineered a system to operate on a mobile platform ” The biggest challenge was coming up with a dual access tracker that could collapse for road transport Once on-site the array is unfolded and elevated to rotate with the sun As word spread Pipkin got more requests for trailer-mounted systems “Each is customized to the customer’s needs which drives the cost up ” says Pipkin “Even the trailers are fabricated in-house With so much customization to be done there would be little left from a purchased trailer Plus we have yet to see a factory-built trailer with the quality we put into ours ” The system design is built around how high and how far the water is to be pumped Added to those parameters is how much water is to be pumped per day or per hour Customization includes not only the pump mounting and solar array but also adding outriggers and a water tank for priming the pump Even the outriggers are customized for the system The company uses all American sourced and manufactured steel Parts are cut and fit to the purpose by a certified welder and CNC plasma cutter in-house Most trailer-mounted systems have an upper limit of about 7 kW That equates to a solar array of about 350 sq ft “Any bigger than 7 kW would require a semi-trailer and anchoring and ballast becomes an issue ” says Pipkin “We did one where the entire trailer frame was fabricated to hold water We filled the frame first when on-site and it served as ballast ” All trailer-mounted systems are 3-phase with a variable frequency drive fed by high voltage from the arrays The company also builds smaller single-phase battery-powered mobile systems with AC pumps They are used for irrigating a remote garden or filling cisterns and water tanks While the latter are relatively inexpensive the solar-powered trailer-mounted pumps run from $25 000 to $80 000 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup U S Solar Mounts 3498 Acorn Ave Sparta Wis 54656 ph 608-272-3999; info@ussolarmounts us; www ussolarmounts us

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