This scheme allows me to walk away on sunny days, knowing that the power stored in the battery will drive the timer and water the critical growing plants. The water butt is fed from guttering on the sheds and the butt can always be topped up by a hose if required. As the Solar power was already available in Shedland. This was an obvious extension of the application of Solar power. The timer is a standard Mains driven Electronic timer adapted for 12 volt use, and drives a 12v Pump assembly. the period of watering is short with the drive to the pump set for only 2 mins of an evening. Initial tests show this will lift about 2.5 litre's of water for distribution via the trickle feeds to the plants.
The basic units above show the Pump unit and the Circuit Board stripped from the Timer case assembly. The original relay output on the board was for a 24volt relay, but substitution of a 12volt relay with points rated at 5amps or more and an NE555 Chip to drive the relay, was the only change to the components. The main 12volt feed is tapped into the board after the original mains dropper, still using the original trickle feed to the 1.2 volt battery needed for the timer backup. The only other addition I intend to make as the unit is cased, is to include a push button to call the pump, and then I will have ' PUSH BUTTON WATERING ', on Demand.
2004 sees the first 'LIVE', use of this system, which has a basic regulation built in. The more total sunlight in a day the longer the system waters in the evening.