I want to make a water feature in my yard. how well does solar work?

I have a place in my yard where I want to make a small birdbath-pool, with a 12 foot long mostly rock "stream" that runs down a slope to another small birdbath-pool. I was going to just use rock and make it a faux stream, but I then thought about being able to make it a real water feature, running enough water for songbirds to drink from. How well do the solar pumps and filters work, I have no access to electricity in this spot.

  7 answers
  • Dfm Dfm on Nov 19, 2017

    solar is only as good as its orienration to the sun. The. Pumps and filters will be running off of battery’s the panels charge. It’s panels at a certain angle, connected to batteries for storing power. I use solar panels with my camper...came in a set with the inverter included. Solar is dc power, the converter out put is ac power.

    • Pamela Paasche O'Hearn Pamela Paasche O'Hearn on Nov 19, 2017

      yeah, my house is solar run. I am wondering about how good the pond/waterfall systems are. tried one once and it was useless, but it was bargain basement and 15 years ago.

  • Dfm Dfm on Nov 19, 2017

    solar works ok for fountains, but you need more than just the panels. the panels don't store the energy...batteries do that. the panels also work better when placed at a certain degree to the sun. solar generates d.c. power, you might need an inverter to convert it to ac. for the pumps. make sure you get one strong enough to move the cubic feet of water a certian distance.

  • Carol Carol on Nov 19, 2017

    I've tried several solar fountains - purchased and DIY. The constant has been that the solar pumps just don't last. I finally admitted defeat and dug a trench for electricity to power the water feature.

  • 27524803 27524803 on Nov 19, 2017

    Some pond filters use a lot of power and how well they and the pumps work depend on how high you want to "lift" the water from the lowest point to the highest. The more lift the bigger the pump needs to be... there are some solar fountain pumps that will lift (vertically) several feet... but what you want has to move the water 12 feet and then to the top of the falls /rock.

    I have searched this on Google > solar pond pumps and solar fountain pumps. There are numerous sites for you to check out..

  • Mogie Mogie on Nov 19, 2017

    If you make a small pond and don't throw water several feet into the air a solar pump should be okay. But do your research. You have a computer so Goggle it and see if there is anything you like.

  • Dfm Dfm on Nov 20, 2017

    the solar fountain i had lasted 2 mo. that was 3 yrs back.

  • Dfm Dfm on Nov 20, 2017

    i wasn’t real happy with the one for a fountain...had it set up for about a week ...not enough power to it.