Asthe president of a company that sells thousands of fountain pumps,and who also receives a lot of OEM inquiries, I've been around theblock on solar pumps. They seem like such a great idea. No wiringneeded! No electric bill! I tried to sell solar pumps to majorfountain manufacturers but never got a sample to one of them thatcould pass muster. For the longest time I gave up. Don't get mewrong. I tested sample after sample. I've wanted them to work forfive years now. But I've seen problems. Bad packaging. Shaky solarpanels. Pumps that seemed doomed to fail within months. So I keptwith the 110-volt market that is already doing well. But finally wehave found solar units that are dependable. They look nice. They have2-year warranties.
Adrawback we must admit is fluctuations in sunlight. Solar pumps arepowered by solar panels (many of them quite good quality, by the way)that require direct sunlight in order to work. That means that theygo on and off all day long, depending on whether a cloud is passing,where the sun is in reference to the panel, and so forth. Some dohave batteries in them, for sure, but the big ones are expensive, soright now we only offer the battery option for the small pump.
Butsome of you will no doubt enjoy the way water slows down and speedsup depending on the sun. it is natural, after all, and it is a niceeffect to coincide with the weather. The pumps are fairly expensive,requiring us to sell them at a much lower markup than is normal inthe industry, but you won't have to pay an electrician to wire andthere will be no utility bill.
Sowhether or not to go solar is a personal decision. But one thing isfor certain, quality has certainly gone up. I'd recommend buying aunit with a solid warranty, at least one year, preferably longer.Take a close look at the head (how high up the pump will pump thewater) as well as the volume it will pump. And if you need to use apump that won't fluctuate with sunlight, get one with a battery.
