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A solar pump fitted to a Darlingtonia tray - Prototype

I gave into temptation and bought a small 9v water pump and solar panel from Amazon for the extravagant amount of £5.89 ($9.11). I made a holding frame from scrap wood and a couple of metal angle brackets for the panel so it's angled at 45°. This I've clamped to the ridge of the greenhouse. The pump is located in one end of an existing double tray which contained a little peat and some perlite under the live sphagnum so I had to construct a small plastic housing ( the end ⅜ of a quarter tray with small holes drilled in the 3 sides) and placed plastic scourers inside and outside the housing to filter out any particles big enough to block the system. The output is delivered to the other end of the tray via 9mm (internal) tubing.

I was surprised at the efficiency of this little pump. It readily comes to life in direct sunlight, even in February at this Northerly latitude (53.1435° N) and continues to run through light cloud. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the summer months.

Although I do not need to have this fitted for the well being of my Darlingtonia, they do very well without it, it shouldn't do any harm. It also kept me occupied for a while ( much to MrsG's appreciation). I'm already considering another to circulate the water in a double tray containing small pierced trays of seedlings.

 
Very interesting Fred! I've been thinking about a system using a buried reservoir of water which would recirculate through a tray and back down into the reservoir as a way to keep Darlingtonia through our hot summers. This would certainly seem to be up to handling the water movement duties without the need for cords or trenches.
 
I may look into that myself! My little bog is a ways from my house, and I have been reluctant to run cords out to it for that reason.

I wonder if this kind of thing could be connected to a rain barrel?
 
I may look into that myself! My little bog is a ways from my house, and I have been reluctant to run cords out to it for that reason.

I wonder if this kind of thing could be connected to a rain barrel?

Provided the outlet isn't too far above the water level of the barrel there should be no problem. These little pumps and I do mean little are quite powerful, the specification gives it a maximum delivery height of 55cm (21.6inches) and a delivery rate up to 46 US gallons/ hour
 
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