Solar Water Pump (ENGR 110, Spring 2012)
Students: Rebecca Barney, Reece Kiriu, Heather Montgomery, Mike Nichols
Advisor: Shoba Krishnan
Students designed a system to pump water from a natural spring to the Walden West garden. The goal was to design a system that would pump water from a natural spring to a storage tank where it could then be used for irrigation. The pump used must be a DC Motor, 48V, submersible, solar-powered, produce 6 gallons/minute, with a 70-ft head. It also needed to have “float” switch to monitor the level of water in the tank, and a switch so it could be turned off in an emergency. The mounting system for the array was “piggy-backed” on the previous solar mount from the Sunflower Project (completed Spring 2011). Permits are required to use the pump in the stream, so the project was put on hold until permits could be obtained.