The Brynn and Dan Show: Solar fountain Fun!

Daniel has humored me lately with my projects around the house - one of which has been the construction of a solar fountain. I could have just gone down to the hardware store and bought a solar fountain kit but I decided to do things the hard way; I decided to put everything together myself (minus the construction of the solar panel, because I looked that up and boy, oh boy... that's another project all in itself).

So, I began with a pot. To make it more natural looking and to keep the idea simple, I made a solar fountain pot versus a traditional fountain. I decided that I wouldn't have anything cascading, I simply would have a pump floating (or stationary) in the pot that would shoot water a portion of the way out of the pot.... simple and soothing. I found a good-sized plastic pot at Costco for a great price, and managed to find a submergible fountain pump online for cheap, too (that claimed it has a vertical lift of 10ft...wow).

Then, I researched for days on end online (at which point I think Daniel thought I was crazy) for the perfect solar panel. I found a panel online that said it was only a 9v 5w but from reading the customer reviews I discovered that it was actually a 9v 22w solar panel. It also inluded a control box that you could connect your battery, load and solar panel to. This ended up being the perfect solution to fit my needs, as it had the ability to charge a battery when there wasn't enough direct sun to keep the pump running.

So, once I ordered the panel and control box, I simply had to wait... a whole week. It was tough. In the mean time I then had to figure out where I was going to purchase a 9v battery that would have enough amps to power my pump and collect a charge from the solar panel. I had been discussing this project with Steve, who shares my enthusiasm on solar energy uses, and he graciously gave me an old 9v UPS battery. Thanks Steve!!

So, yesterday I drilled a hole in the pot and found a plastic container that would keep my battery and control box safe (drilled hoes in it, too). I bought some silicon and slapped it onto the holes once I ran the wires through the pot and to the battery and control box. I was supposed to let it dry for 24 hours, but I couldn't wait long enough. After about 12-14 hours I filled the pot up with water and, lo and behold, nothing seeped out!

I decorated the pot with lots of large rocks I had in the garage (see? I'm not a pack rat... everything has its purpose), dug a hole large enough for the plastic container to sit in... and voila! I didn't put the plastic container all the way down into the ground, as I'm still testing it out to see if the silicon will do its job of keeping condensation out. As for the pump, it works great (sometimes too great when there isn't enough water resistance... it soaked me when I was moving it).

Anyhow... long story short, enjoy the pictures below!