I am building a new Pond with an off the grid solar power system. I looking at 100 watt solar panel with 12V, 35 AH Battery to store it. So I can run the system for the maximum amount of time I looking for low wattage, high efficient pumps. So far best I have found are Rio Plus Taam Pumps. The 4HF does 260 GPH with 10 Watt (26 GPH Per Watt). There is RIO 1700 model with does 642 GPH with 31 Watt (drops to 20.8 GPH Per Watt). I might have to buy 2 or 3 smaller pump and hook them together in serial to be more energy efficient at this rate. Is there any better pumps or solutions out there what will work with my solar powered system?

im no expert, been reading/researching it, specifically for later use. Talking with a few folks, heres what im looking at and this is presented purely for though provoking info off the grid is over rated and not neccessary if you ask some solar users(myself included) yes its all romantic thinking about the self sufficiency aspect of it, but honestly probably not worth it in a urban/semi rural area. grid tie is ALMOST a great answer, but if you lose power in a storm, doesnt matter how much solar you put on the roof. it still has to be stored and disseminated. ive been thinking of a hybrid type system(again for the future) where id be grid tied 99% of the time, but id also have battery storage and a set of outlets (the garage for instance) specifically for power outages/storms. i could still run a small refrigerator/freezer(mine in the garage now runs at about 2.5a) and a small TV, couple of fans and maybe flourescent lighting. off the grid. indefinitely. yeah hot showers wouldnt happen, and cooking would be strictly open fire/grill, but you know you could go as far as you want. that may very well be a good place to start for you. my uncle is off the grid in the escalante canyon, but he didnt go all in at the beginning. work your way up. Now heres the reality of alternative energy. it requires regular maintenance and periodic replacement of components. batteries are likely the most expensive part.(based on a small 35w garden pond experiment i recently completed- ha, i turned a 100$ pond into a 400$ pond in a week, more on that in a minute) and theyll need to be replaced at some point. just the way it is. same with panels, at some point theyll need to be replaced. just keep it in mind as you deliberate. as far as panels go. thin film is cheaper, eficiency is less, and life span is shorter. mono/poly crystalline is more efficient, lasts longer, but exponentially more expensive. batteries. i could go for weeks on info ive found out about solar power storage, AGM, lead acid,gel cell, etc etc etc. either way, you get what you pay for and you will pay. heres a general idea of expenses based on my very limited experience during one solar experiment. 1 30 gallon pond kit- 100$ northern tool 35w monocrystalline panel with charge controller- 80$ ebay 8w 12v DC pump- 40$ online 34AH AGM battery(electric wheel chair battery) 90$ batteries plus. various wiring/fasteners/etc- 30$ add in labor(it was me, i make about $20+ per hour) for 6 hours of work installing only. now i have probably 5-6 years of off the grid power for my stupid 30 gallon pond. then ill have to replace the battery, maybe the charge controller. hoping the panel lasts at least 10, maybe 15 years. nevermind the pump. that could go any minute now muliply that by 50-100 (sans pond kit) and add permits, inspections, engineers, designers, electricians. i dont even know what that would cost. and you should have a beginning idea of what it would cost to do a house off the grid. yep youre self sufficient, but it could take years to get the return on investment, and then youd be looking at regular replacement of something, so youd be better off, but not free. that said, i like my pond. the birds like it, and im sure the mosquitos will too this summer(crap theres another 30$ in either fish or dunks, plus algae control, talk about a 64$ tomato) i did learn A TON about solar though. matt

While we all look at those awesome looking wind turbines and shiny solar panels, let's also give some thought to the simple but the workshorse-like solar water heater. Humble, reliable and useful, the SWH has needed little subsidies and incentives from governments and has been providing hot water and process heat for over three decades all over the world. SWH have some real benefits. Here's a post explaining the benefits of solar water heaters for India. "Some of the salient points about solar water heating in India 1. The payback period is less than 4 years. 2. Typically, for an Indian make system with single BIS approved flat plate collector of 2 sq. m area (required for an average household), the current market costs are reported to be in the range of Rs. 15,000-20,000 ($500) 3. Based on the price of electricity and the region in India where it is installed, the savings per year for a typical Indian household through the use of solar water is in the range of Rs. 4000-7000 ($100-175) 4. Solar water heaters last 15-20 years. This implies that beyond the breakeven period of 4 years, you get hot water at no cost at all. " How many renewable energy concepts can you name that have payback periods of 4 years with little or no government subsidy? China has realized the important of solar water heaters, and as a result, over 25 million Chinese households have these on them. Isn't time that the rest of the world followed China in this? Here is a link that might be useful: Solar Water Heaters

I'm located in a hot Southern climate. We're technically north of Atlanta in latitude, but much flatter in altitude which can make a big difference. Someone south of Atlanta is likely to experience similar weather. I have friends in Warner Robbins, and our summer weather is usually within a few degrees of each other. Delta heat and humidity is brutal. We get MUCH hotter and humid springs and falls than most realize. And "humidity season" is about 10 months long. The Gulf is always swirling up massive amounts of moisture into the region. It's basically summer from April til October. Heating season is only 3-4 months long here while cooling season can run 8-10 months. There are months that overlap. Hot in the day and cool at night. It's not so much the temperature in those overlap months as it is the humidity. 81 degrees and 95% humidity is pretty darn clammy and miserable and so needs the AC to dehumidify the air. Same with 55 degrees and 90% humidity. It feels colder than it actually is because of the humidity and putting on a sweater only helps marginally. Gotta run the heat a bit to make the temp more comfortable. There are about three weeks in fall and three weeks in spring when you can actually open the windows and not suffer due to letting the humidity into the house. Planning for solar heat gain in the winter is practically ludicrous with those conditions. It's not that darn cold to begin with! Add in a bit of low sun solar gain to your average 40-50 degree winter high temperature and the house will get to 80 in no time. My neighbor's attached Southern facing un-HVAC'd sunroom regularly gets to 95 degrees on a sunny December day. In summer, even with decent overhangs, it's 130 in there by noon. Try to work with that for your home's cooling load! This is why I stated that solar planning for the South is more about minimizing the solar gain rather than trying to harness it for the brief heating period that happens. Your major energy dollars spent here are in cooling. Minimizing loads to the cooling system with the home's design is what pays off here---IF, as David says, the homeowner has the luxury of enough room to accomplish that. 95% of those building will do so on lots too small to do much more than trying to get the right windows for those Southern facing heat gainers.