Solar Pumps and Solar Lights for Ponds

As the president of a company that sells a lot of fountain pumps, and who also receives a lot of OEM inquiries, I've been around the block on solar pumps. They seem like such a great idea. No wiring needed! No electric bill! I tried to sell solar pumps to major fountain manufacturers but never got a sample to one of them that could pass muster.

Many customers believe that we are just too lazy to try solar, or we don't want to cut into a 110-volt market that is already doing well. But the truth of the matter is that solar still runs into quite a few problems, not the least of which has been, in my experience, not enough sunlight!

You see, most of the solar pumps out there are powered by solar panels (many of them quite good quality, by the way) that require direct sunlight in order to work. That means that they go on and off all day long, depending on whether a cloud is passing, where the sun is in reference to the panel, and so forth. Some do have batteries in them, for sure, but these units are expensive and also do not pump very much water at very high of head. The truth of the matter is that solar is a lot better idea conceptually than it is in the world when tested. Think of it this way. Those little solar lights in the yard that are collecting sunlight all day burn only 8-10 hours at night. They typically have enough power to light two tiny LED bulbs. Worse yet, when it comes to pumps, the DC pumps used for solar fountains don't last the kind of hours that a normal magnetic rotor pump lasts.

This is too bad. We have really wanted solar to work, but it has so far not panned out, not well anyway. We really caught on to this when we noticed that some companies were taking credit cards for everything but their solar pumps. This means to us that they do not want to have to be faced with charge backs and returns. Customers are too often disappointed in the product and demand their money back including shipping both ways. It gets to be too much.

So here is what we have come to suggest to customers: think modestly. If you really want a solar pump, perhaps think of it as a novelty item as much as anything. And also make sure you have somewhere to hide the solar panel. In other words, do not plan to install a solar fountain in your front yard. The solar panels have to be put in direct sun and are easy targets for thieves. They are as easy to steal as a flower or leaf on the lawn. So plan someplace in the backyard in full sun and don't get bothered if the thing goes off and on all day. Also, put a pump in a fountain that requires low head (height of pumping) and not much volume (from 30-80 gallons per hour maximum usually). Or better yet, just use solar lights. They work and they are cute. Floating solar pond lights are also available these days. These can be "thrown" on top of a pond or pool and work the same as in-the-lawn solar fixtures. The only difference, and this is a major one, they float! They are usually available in different colors for seasonal effects (red, white, and blue for July 4, for example).

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