our well is now cut over to PV
DK, translation please?

Sorry.

Our well is run by an alternating-current (ac) motor which pumps the water from the ground and into a pressure tank. the well is pretty shallow (~25 ft), but by adding the work to get the pressure tank's pressure up to 45 psi, it's the power equivalent of pumping the water up about 130 feet.

The motor, being an AC type, ran off regular grid power (110 volts, 50 Hz), just like in your house.

What I did was to get four Surrette batteries and a 160-Watt photovoltaic (PV) module to charge them. The direct current (dc) output from the bateries goes through an inverter which changes it to alternating current. The well pump thinks it's looking at grid power, but it really isn't.

Given that there isn't much rain where I live (less than 10 in/25 cm per year), I can be assured of about 6 hours of full sun a day in the summer and 4.5 sun-hours in the winter.

The battery capacity is twice as large as it needs to be, but I got the extra batteries to provide autonomy for them on those days where it's overcast and the PV modules don't produce any electricity.

I'm also working on a circuit which will let the big Surrettes charge all my other batteries, whether gel-cells, sealed lead-acid for the car and the bike, or all the little NiMH batteries for the laptop, radio, cameras, and flashlights.

It's not feasible to use PV to run a house (heating, cooling, cooking, etc.) -- not even a little one like the cabin. I can cook with a dutch oven and sweat in the summertime, but if i don't have a guaranteed supply of potable water, I will die.

If the grid goes, I will be uncomfortable (hey, I like air conditioning and a microwave oven) but at least I'll survive!!