Pump for irrigation

[Tritron]

Hi,
I'm planning a solar-powered irrigation system that needs to pump about 20-25m³ per day.
My water source is either a creek (max 8m difference between source and destination) or a well (max 11m).
I am not a plumber, so I don't know what type of pump to use, pressures, pipes etc...
The system doesn't contain any sprinklers but flows out the end of a pipe, so there is no need for significant pressure at the end.

What other factors do I have to consider? Is there a controller I can use to supplement the solar system with mains power in case of a cloudy day or higher demand?

Thanks

 

[arctic bill]

20-25m³ is equal to 6604.3 gallons. or about 5 gpm . That is running 24 hours. In my humble opinion solar is not going to do it. think about generator and 1/2 hp electric pump

 

[Tritron]

20-25m³ is equal to 6604.3 gallons. or about 5 gpm . That is running 24 hours. In my humble opinion solar is not going to do it. think about generator and 1/2 hp electric pump

Thank you.
I did want to avoid the necessity to run a genset if possible. Solar would only run a maximum equivalent of 6-7 hrs (around 69-70L/min?). How much power do I need for such a pump?

I agree; if I had reliable mains power or the possibility of installing a genset, it'd be much easier. But in this particular case I could only use mains to supplement power occasionally.

 

[Valveman]

Something like this is the best you can do.
https://product-selection.grundfos.com/us/products/sqflex/5-sqf-80-98842520?tab=variant-curves

 

[wpns]

Solar would only run a maximum equivalent of 6-7 hrs (around 69-70L/min?)

Still 18GPM, that's a _lot_ of water. When you say equivalent 6-7 hours, do you have 6-7 peak solar hours, or a more normal (say) 5 peak hours, so you are going to need to oversize the array and charge batteries, etc?

I doubt it's big enough (you can probably get the pump close to the creek, not sure how close you can get it to the static water level in the well), but let's pretend a Pentair Flotec FP4032 1 HP Thermoplastic Shallow Well Jet Pump will work. That's 2.2KW, which is going to require something like 5KW of solar panels and 30 KWHR of batteries, Fermi $40K of hardware costs.

Will your well support 18GPM for 6-7 hours?

 

[wpns]

Is there a controller I can use to supplement the solar system with mains power in case of a cloudy day or higher demand?

Well, yes, to turn this project around, set up the irrigation system to use mains power, and set up a grid-tied solar system to offset some (or all, or more than all, depending on net-metering regulations and availability in your area) of the grid power. Then you can add more solar later as you get comfortable with the system.

But if your grid power is that unreliable, then you can certainly set up a battery system that can use occasional grid (or small genset, I like the Honda inverter style) power to recharge batteries.