How much solar energy would you need to generate and run a small water pump? Say one that is big enough to extract water from a bucket that is 1 ft wide x 2 ft deep? What size solar panel would you need to accomplish this?
Assuming you are only interested in pumping the water out of the back (and onto the floor). The majority of the energy will be consumed trying to get the water to the tip of the bucket (where it will then fall to the floor), so it will initially require very little energy, but by the time it's trying to remove the last bit of water it will have to lift it 2' high(and water exerts 2.41psi per sq. so it need to exert 2.82 PSI+force exerted by the 2' of tubing/pipe). It would also depend on how quickly you want to get the water out of the bucket.
The key is, as 96sentra says, where does the water have to go. We would need to know how high above bucket (minimum) water level will the other end of the hose be, and how fast (Liter or gallon per minute) shall the water flow. This determines the pump type, which in turn determines the solar panel size.
