Recent Installations

Late April 2010 - Hybrid System

We recently completed a unique Solar Rain Pump – Hybrid installation here in Mt. Prospect. Here are the parameters that led to our solution:

Challenges:

• Large lot with beautiful landscaping currently irrigated with municipal water
• Limited space near house for rain barrels – 2 maximum
• Expansive landscaping has large demand for water

To the left is a picture of the 5 barrels that were installed behind the trellis. The gray barrels with the gray trellis hide the barrels very nicely and with the growth of the landscape throughout the summer the barrels will further dissappear.

The Solar Rain Pump pumps the water from the downspout to these barrels and when they are full a float switch at the top of the barrel shuts the pump off to conserve battery power. Two barrels, the far left barrel and the far right barrel have the connections necessary for the Solar Rain Pump to pump water out of them and since all the barrels are connected at the bottom, all 5 barrels act as one large tank.

To the right is the "catchment" or buffer area between the downspout and the Solar Rain Pump - Hybrid. The catchment acts as a temporary holding place for rain water during a storm. Rain water comes down the downspout and into the catchment through filter material to keep debris out (Number 1 in picture). When there is enough rain water in the catchment a float switch turns the pump on pumping the water to the remote rain barrels. This process repeats as the rain falls and if the pump cannot keep up with the incoming rain water the water just overflows (Number 2 in picture) just like a normal downspout would. In addition, if the rain barrels are full and the pumping system is deactivated all incoming water will just overflow. Number 3 in the picture is actually a storage box where the pump is kept. The wiring harness for the float switches along with the connections to the catchment and out to the rain barrels are connected inside this box.

Here is a closeup picture of the barrels behind the trellis. The barrel in the foreground has the connection for the Solar Rain Pump enabling the collected water to be pumped out through a drip irrigation system.

A 15-Watt solar panel was installed to recharge the Solar Rain Pump. Due to a large house on one side of the property and some other large trees, the best place to put the solar panel was on the garage roof. A larger 15-Watt solar panel is needed in this application because of the demand of both pumping water from the downspout to the rain barrels but also the demand to pump the irrigation system.

The garden is very large and has numerous types of plant material that need irrigation. The whole backyard is seperated into only 2 zones for the Solar Rain Pump to irrigate. With a combination of 1/2" mainline tubing snaking through the garden as well as 1/4" tubing to reach the individual plants the system is custom and adaptable. Overall the project was a lot larger than orginally anticipated but the knowledge gained through the experience was priceless. This is one of the most unique irrigation system you will find in Chicagoland and maybe in the country.