Solar-Powered Well Waters Cattle

Solar-Powered Well Waters Cattle ENERGY Solar Missouri farmer Roger Shanks built a solar-powered well pump on rented pastureland to water his herd of 50 cattle that spend the summer there Shanks says he built the solar system because the 80-acre pasture doesn’t have an electric line nearby to run a pump and getting one from the power company would cost him $3 000 per pole The solar panels pump and controls that Shanks installed cost him about $4 000 and he can use the system year after year without any operating costs “The sunlight is free once all the equipment is in place ” he says Shanks says his pump gets power from eight solar panels mounted on top of the well house The pump fills separate 1 000 gal storage tanks that feed water by gravity flow to smaller tanks located downhill from the well He says the 7 gal per minute flow rate from the 300-ft deep well is more than adequate to keep the storage tanks full Shanks rotates cattle in the pasture between eight different paddocks with water always accessible He’s had the system for two years and says it’s worked perfectly even without a battery backup Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Roger Shanks S Farm Road 205 Springfield Mo 65809

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