2HP = 1.

49kWh

Assuming your pump is only 85% efficient, and another 10% power loss during
transmission, the system will need to generate at least 1.95kWh at minimum to operate the
submersible pump down hole.

Second, the location.

Assuming you live in Wichita Kansas, with a southerly facing solar panel installation, with
the solar panel array inclined at 23° with respect to the ground, during the month of July,
you can expect to capture 6.54 kWh/m^2/day of energy. You can expect to generate about
half that amount in the Winter.

To calculate the solar irradiance for your specific installation, use Solar Irradiance
Calculator.

Third, the complicated part.

Assuming the pump needs to operate 24 hrs/day and 7 days/week, we need to size a system
which can generate and store this amount of power to operate. To generate the 46.8
kWh/day of energy required to run the pump will dictate at least 7.16 m^2 of solar panels
for summer operation, and 14.32 m^2 of solar panels for winter operation.

Given that we will be producing enough power to both (a) operate the pump and (b)
recharge the batteries during the day, we can safely assume that for at least 5 hrs of the day
we will not need any power from the batteries. In my opinion, it is safe to assume this is the
case for 8 hours, assuming that on the worst day with the worst conditions, it is okay for the
pump to stop running for a bit overnight.

Okay, so given that we need 16 hours worth of stored energy every day, we need to be able to
cycle approximately 31 kWh of energy in our battery system to support the pump during off-
peak hours during the winter. Since we don’t want to consume all of the power in the
battery, we will size a battery with a 50% duty cycle (meaning that it will only get to 50% of
its charge before energy generation begins again and started re-charging the battery. So a
61kWh battery.

Lastly, the safety factor.

We’ve already taken into account the energy lost when converting electrical to mechanical
power, as well as the loss for getting the power down to the pump. Now we have to take into
account the losses for converting from a low voltage DC system to a high voltage AC system,
the losses for converting lower voltage DC to higher voltage DC (for charging the battery), as
well as some safety factor for clouds, etc.

I am not a solar technician, estimator, etc, and while I would love to help you with this last
step, I’ve already made enough assumptions. Suffice it to say, I would add another 25% to
both storage and generation capacity to ensure everything is going to work as close to
99.99% of the time as possible given the limited information (and time) available.

So, to run a 2HP pump for 24/7 using 120VAC at 60Hz will require somewhere in the
neighborhood of an 18 m^2 solar array, and a 75 kWh battery, along with charge
controllers, transformers, etc.