If you have been thinking of making a more eco-friendly garden, have you considered getting a solar powered pump birdbath? Actually, have you thought of making one yourself?

So how will a solar powered pump birdbath benefit you?

The benefits are:

a: Fountains circulate the water, keeping the bird bath from going stagnant

b: It uses none of your main power supply

c: The pump works on direct current, so no inverter is required

d: It requires little power (about 6 volts) so you only need a few small solar panels.

e: No batteries are required, since the pump only really needs to operate during the day when the sun is out and the birds are in the garden.

f: You could learn to make your own solar panels, reducing the cost even further.

g: The birdbath is wireless making it very portable.

And what does it take to make a solar powered pump birdbath?

The most basic method is to buy a working birdbath with fountain, and then wire up the solar panels.

The more inexpensive, but do-it-yourself method would be to buy a birdbath that is capable of housing a fountain. Then all you need to do is buy the pump, tubing, wiring, solar panels and batteries (optional).

If you decide to make your own fountain, you will need:

A Birdbath

Here you have a choice of cascading fountains, copper fountains, terracotta birdbaths, resin fountains, or the conventional ceramic birdbath. Just make sure a pump system can be installed on the birdbath.

The Fountain Attachment:

This attachment can be source from your nearby hardware store or garden center. It is an optional extra that helps make the water spout out of the top, instead of a small trickle.

Small DC Pump:

The next part is buying the small dc pump. A typical 6 volt pump should be adequate, but you may need to go bigger, if the birdbath or water feature is larger than normal.

PVC pipe for irrigation:

This is what the water will flow through. It is best to ask your nursery about the various irrigation options. Otherwise, get ideas from finished pump powered fountains. As a rule of thumb, the PVC piping needs to be narrow to maintain enough water pressure.

Silicon Sealant:

This is one of those essentials that you should already have lying around the house. It will help seal all those joins and also protect electrics from water damage.

Solar Panels:

This is what sets this off-grid system apart from conventionally powered birdbath fountains. The pump will help determine how many solar panels you need. For a 6 volt DC pump, you will need at least a 6 volt solar panel, but rater double up on the solar panels for times when the sun is weak.

NB: To get the solar panels, you have 2 choices:

1 : Buy a small commercially available solar panel from any outlet, such as Wallmart.

2 : Make it yourself. With the right guide it is rather easy and much cheaper to make your own solar panel in a matter of hours. If this is something you would love to try do, then keep reading…

To maximize the efficiency of the solar panel, it could be mounted in a simple frame with the ability to be angled towards the sun.

Can anyone build this birdbath?

Once you have all the components and tools at your disposal, putting the system together shouldn’t take you more than 2 hours. And within an afternoon you could have a fully functional solar powered pump birdbath.

A nice added extra is to hook up some batteries to the system. That way you can store any excess power, and the pump could run all day and night. If you do want the fountain to operate for 24 hours, then you will need the following:

1) Deep cycle battery:

Since the system is small, a 12 volt battery should be enough. This will be wired up between the charge controller and the pump.

Charge Controller:

This is not essential, but it prevents your battery from over-charging. So it can really extend the life of the battery. It will be wired up between the solar panels and the battery.

Other than it being really cheap to make, the big advantage of making your solar powered pump fountain is that once you have that skill it is there with you forever. You could even make it as an eco-friendly gift for your friend’s next birthday.