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Pages.

Introduction
About The Author
Authors Notes
Your First Pond
Trees & Sunshine
Take The Plunge
Preformed Pools
Installing A Liner
Making A Raised Pool
A Koi Pond
Miniature Ponds
Adding A Waterfall
Electricity
Colourful Ponds
Dangers
Choosing A Pump
Solar Powered Pumps
Looking After A Pump
Pond Pipework
Installing A Fountain
Self-Contained Fountains
The Leaky Pond
Planting The Pond
A Wildlife Pond
A Bog Garden
Pond Plants
Plants Round A Pond
Choosing A Lily
Floating Plants
Water Hyacinth
Oxygenating Plants
About Fish
When To Buy Fish
Choosing Fish
Quarantining Fish
Fish Under Stress
Feeding Your Fish
Holidays & Fish
Breeding Coldwater Fish
Changing Colours Of Fish
Pond Fish
A Koi Collection
Ghost Koi
Fancy Goldfish
Coldwater Catfish
Sturgeon
Grass Carp
Rearing Trout
Swan Mussels
Visitors To The Pond
Frogs
Newts
Visiting A Koi Auction
Clubs & Societies
Caring For Fish
Testing The Water
Oxygenation
Are You Poisoning Your Fish
Ponds & Medicines
Diseases & Parasites
Disappearing Fish
Problems With Herons
Filtration
Green Ponds
Fish Pond Filters
How A Filter Works
Improving Your Filter
Ultra Violet Sterilizers
Looking After A Filter
The Pond Through The Year
Spring Cleaning
Pond Plants In Spring
Ponds In Summer
Autumn & Winter
Breaking The Ice
10 Problems
Useful Facts & Figures

Allotment Articles1.
Allotment Articles 2.

Solar Powered Pumps

As with all modern technological applications, advancements are being made with pond pumps. Firstly it was the newly designed impeller and then it was the ceramic drive shafts.

The latest advancement concerns the power source for pond pumps. Until now pumps have always been powered by mains electricity whether it was low voltage off a transformer, or full 240 volt mains, but the latest development uses solar power to drive the pump. Admittedly it is only low power, operating a fountain about 1 ½ feet, or 45 cm in height on a bright sunny day, but you can be sure that in years to come that the power rating will go up.

The solar powered pump costs about as much as a small to medium sized pump, but obviously it saves a fortune on cables that you would normally have to run across your garden to your pond. Also of course there are no running costs that over the years can mount up to a lot of money.

The first Solar pumps were as unconventional in appearance as their power source looking more like an upside down dome in shape than the usual cylindrical shape of most pumps. The inlet to the pumps was underneath where there was a fairly large foam pre-filter to stop debris from being sucked up into the pump. This of course needed cleaning regularly to keep the pump operating at peak efficiency. The photoelectric cell covered the whole top surface of the circular pump with the fountain nozzle in the middle. The cell had to be kept clean and free from leaves which otherwise might mar its performance as it floated around the pool. This pump had much going for it as regards suitability for small pools and only had a couple of drawbacks. The first was its low power as it would not drive a waterfall, but this was to come in time. The other small point was that on no account should the pump be left in the pool for winter. Ice could form and as the pump floated on the surface, might damage the pump, so it always had to be removed and stored somewhere dry and dark until the Spring. Recent developments in Solar cell technology has meant that more powerful power generating cells are often separate from the pumps and positioned next to the pond rather than in it. The benefits of this are enormous as regards longevity of the cells, efficiency and pump design.














 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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