Slash farm operating costs: how to save $100K!

Tired of shelling out a small fortune to keep your diesel pumps running? Why spend over $100K when you can save and get the job done with a solar water pumping solution?

At Off the Grid System Designs, we understand that money doesn’t grow on trees – so why waste it on expensive diesel pumps that are hard to maintain and unreliable? 

In this article, we’ll explore how the costs of diesel water pumps compare to our innovative solar system to power your water pumps, and breakdown how our solution can save you over $100,000 annually on operating costs!

Scenario 1: Using generators for diesel water pumps:

To break down the annual cost of a diesel generator, we’ve created a scenario with 10 diesel-fuelled water pump stations.

Purchase cost: $45,000

The average price for a diesel generator is $4500, so for 10 systems, you can expect to pay $45K.

Diesel generators also typically last 3 years, and if we spread the cost over its lifespan, you come to an annual total of $15,000.

Diesel cost: $100,430

With the estimated hourly cost to run a diesel generator at $4.94 (2.5/L burn rate at 197c/L) running an annual operation time of 2035 hrs (running at 55 hrs per week for 37 weeks), brings the annual cost for 10 pumps at a total of $100,430.

Refueling and maintenance cost: $65,273

If every week on average, you travel 600km running at $1.78/km for 37 weeks of the year, vehicle costs alone will be a staggering $39,671.

On top of that, factoring in pump maintenance wage for 24 paid hours at $28.82/hr every week for 37 weeks ($25,602), brings the combined cost to $65,273.

TOTAL annual cost: $180,703

Accounting for the above costs you can expect to fork out over $180K every year for diesel generators, excluding service.

Scenario 2: Off the Grid solar Water Pump Power Station

Now, let’s analyse the annual cost for a solar water pump design built by Off the Grid System Designs.

We’ll be playing fair and evaluating the costs for 10 systems, just as we did for the diesel generators.

Purchase cost: $375K

For 10 solar water pump stations from Off the Grid the initial cost will be $400K.

Yes, this is a much bigger investment in infrastructure, but keep reading to find out how this solution can actually save you $135K+ every year.

First step is to make the most of any solar rebates. At the time of publishing, there is a a small-scale technology certificate (STC) where you can receive a government subsidy of between $2500 to $3000 dollars per system.

For our scenario, you could be saving $25,000 and therefore only paying $375K for all 10 stations.

If we distribute the cost over its minimum lifespan of 10 years, the capital cost per annum is $37,500.

Refueling and maintenance cost: $3528

Off the Grid solar water pumps are passive and self-sufficient, reducing your required maintenance runs to only 2 per annum!

Using the same numbers from our previous scenario, your vehicle ($2144) and wage ($1384) costs be $3528 combined.

This is where significant cost savings are made, compared to diesel generators!

Monitoring features: $4560

With our optional extra features such as 4G and satellite communication, manually checking your pump stations isn’t necessary. All the information you need is at your fingertips from anywhere in the world. Check water flow, water levels, battery storage and power usage accurately or monitor the surrounds with a live video feed.

The costs associated with 4G and satellite communication are estimated to be around $456 per annum per system, so for the 10 systems this comes to $4560 per year.

TOTAL annual cost: $45,588

The total annual cost of Off the Grid’s solar water pump is dwarfed by the diesel generator’s annual cost ($180,703).

Net farm operation cost savings: $135,115

With Off the Grid’s solar water pump, you would be saving $131,115 for a system with higher performance, greater reliability, less maintenance, and more convenience.

Our systems are uniquely passive and long lasting, meaning you can pay off your investment, unlike with diesel generators. In less than 2.5 years you’ll have paid off your system, and our solutions are guaranteed a 10-year lifespan, so you can produce a minimum 7.6 years of free electricity.

Slash farm operating costs with Off the Grid solar water pump power station

Tired of high operating costs cutting into your farming profits?

Take the first step towards a more profitable, eco-friendly future for your farm. Contact us today to see how we can save you thousands.