Home

Musical services & products 👉 HERE

Remote Power & Solar Water Pumping

Education • Industry Support • Since 1975

Founder, retired – Dankoff Solar Products, Inc.

Windy Dankoff's career combines his technical talents with a passion for environmental preservation. In 1977, he began a wind-electric and photovoltaic business in New Mexico, to electrify homes beyond the power lines. He has worked solely in the private sector, where systems had to be cost-effective. In 1983, he became one of the first manufacturers of solar powered water-well pumps. In 1997, Dankoff Solar Products became a worldwide wholesale distributor. He sold the company in 2005 to pursue writing and consulting.

Windy has had over 40 magazine articles and book contributions published, covering photovoltaic applications, energy management, and solar water pumping. He has taught at schools, and advises other pioneering business owners and educators.

Corporate SPIN-OFFS from Dankoff Solar Products
Dankoff Solar Pumps division of Solar Power & Pump Co / SunRotor
Positive Energy Solar <> Conergy USA <> Focused Energy <> Sindelar Solar

Co-author, IN PROGRESS
The Solar Water Pumping Handbook
Theory and practice for off-grid, solar microgrid, and grid integrated water supply

by Windy Dankoff, Robert Foster, Alma Cota, Eric Lespin
~ For future publication by Taylor & Francis ~

ABSTRACT: Proceedings of the American Solar Energy Society National Conference, 2022

SERVICES are listed on NEXT PAGE

27 years in windy & solar industry

My field is remote-site (off-grid) photovoltaic (PV) power for homes and water supply, with early experience in wind power. My business started as a local service, then progressed into manufacturing and wholesale distribution. I attribute that progression to my roots in local service, retail sales, and tech support. I asses a client's situation with respect to a broad ecology of needs and potential. I call this whole-systems thinking.

I am gifted now by the contacts I maintain with fellow "pioneers" around the world. This network enhances my capacity as a consultant and educator. I work as a free agent, with no financial ties in the industry.

Author of over 40 published articles

I have had over 40 magazine articles and book contributions published, concerning the practical details of off-grid home system design, operation and maintenance, energy management and efficiency, and solar water pumping. You can find them all over the internet. I have taught dozens of courses and workshops, and answered many “Ask The Experts” questions for Home Power Magazine.

For a list of articles and more, press the blue button:

Windy Dankoff CV

PERSONAL STORY

Think back to the era of Vietnam war ... oil crisis ... acid rain … Military Industrial Complex, and the back-to-the-land movement. There I was, wondering what to do ...

I was blessed with a good start in life. My parents encouraged me to discover my unique abilities. I pursued electronics with a passion. I started engineering school in 1970 but, unsure of my career path, I dropped out. I wished to work for a cleaner, saner world. But how? As an outdoor explorer, I dreamed of living off-grid. In 1974, I read magazine articles about home and farm wind turbines that were popular in the 1930s and 40s. In an instant, I knew what I was born to do.

The wind-electric industry that began in the 30's had died by 1957. I joined a network of hackers and homesteaders who were reviving the old technology. Together, we learned to rebuild and update the old wind systems. Could it meet the needs of modern people? To test my faith, I set up shop to sell a service … The American Way! And I did OK, as you can see in the pictures below, and I earned a professional title: Windy

It was difficult and risky work, setting 2000 watt turbines on 60 foot (20m) towers. I couldn't sleep on stormy nights, and had bad dreams for years. When solar photovoltaics (PV) became available in 1980, I was ready to eliminate all that. The simplicity of PV liberated me to shift focus to whole-system design and efficiency. To test my faith again, I built a 100-watt PV system on an old school bus. It was my live-in laboratory with no umbilical cord or backup. I had lights, music, mobile phone ... and my refrigerator synchronized naturally to the available sunshine. When I found myself ignoring the system and just living my life, I knew this could work for a wider clientele.

The wind business had prepared me for PV. I was already building charge controllers and power centers, and DC-converted appliances. I was illuminating houses with less than 100 watts. I was teaching college classes and gaining a national market by writing magazine articles.

But the missing link, BIG BLACK HOLE was WATER PUMPING. Conventional well pumps were too inefficient for affordable, micro-power PV. In 1981, I got a job with a pump and windmill supplier. We began solar-pumping wells and boreholes using one-third the normal energy by again, adapting older technologies.

I left that job to create my own product line of low-power high-lift pumps. The first was Solar Slowpump®, developed at my workshop bus in 1983. I mailed specifications and price list to 50 PV dealers and distributors. My expectations were blown away as my pumps went out to cattle ranchers, missionaries, government services, a Boy Scout camp, hippies, hunters and hermits. They wanted pumps and MORE PUMPS!

For the next 20 years, I delivered the goods. I wrote enough to fill a book. I did phone support until my left ear went dull. By 2005, I was The Old Founder, surrounded by trained professionals who were taking my job away. Then, with joy, I retired from commerce.

I honor the young professionals who have brought renewable energy into the mainstream. They are now my teachers.

PROFESSIONAL STORY

I started WindLight Workshop in 1977 to supply off-grid homeowners with wind-electric systems. This was before solar PV (photovoltaics) was on the market. I earned the title Windy. In 1980, I began eagerly to phase out wind in favor of PV, and to focus on super-efficient system design. Water pumping was vital to my clients but efficient low-power pumps were almost non-existent. I grew frustrated waiting for others to answer the need. Lacking prior training, I dove in headfirst with an open mind. Solar pump manufacturing quickly became half the business, so I renamed it Flowlight Solar Power in 1986.

The solar industry was boosted by US and state tax benefits in the mid-80's. When those ended, the off-grid PV sector continued growing, faster than ever. We were not only reducing people's costs, we were improving their lives by eliminating kerosene lamps, noisy and dirty engines, and antiquated windmills.

Paul Benson joined me in 1995. We co-founded Dankoff Solar Products, Inc. in '96 as a wholesale-only manufacturer, and a distributor of PV equipment. At the same time, I sold the retail portion of the business to Allan Sindelar who then founded Positive Energy Solar (the #1 rated PV installer in New Mexico). I was free to focus on the next phase of solar pumping.

The deep-well breakthrough
The original Dankoff Pumps were surface pumps, not for deep wells (boreholes). I was dissatisfied with the available solar pumps —until the advent of the helical rotor pump. I knew about it in the 80s and 90s, but it wasn't until 2000 that high tech enabled the commercial feasibility of an efficient submersible form. Bernt Lorentz was a manufacturer of off-grid fuel pumps. His colleague Bernward Hollemann convinced him that solar pumping was an exciting opportunity, and urged him to contact me for guidance. From 1999 to 2004, I advised on the design and strategy of Lorentz helical rotor pumps. I wrote the original specifications and instruction manuals. Dankoff Solar Products was the first USA importer. Bernt Lorentz KG is now a world leader in solar pumping.

In 2005 I was satisfied to sell the business and step out of commerce. In 2013, the Dankoff Solar Pumps division was re-acquired by Solar Power & Pump Co. It's a perfect compliment—The Dankoff Solar Pumps division is strong in surface pumps while the SunRotor division is strong in submersibles. In 2021, that company was purchased by Neil Bacoski. Neil is highly dedicated, ethical, and capable. I stay in friendly contact, and am honored to see my old company in good hands.

Now I focus on research, education, writing, with an eye on the future. I am a free agent with no financial ties in the industry.

Book in progress

My current project is: The Handbook of Solar Water Pumping with co-authors: Dr. Alma Cota, Robert Foster, and Eric Lespin, for publication in 2026 by CRC Press.

My co-authors come from academic, NGO and public sectors. They have been soiling their boots around the world since the 80's in support of renewable energy and water supply in the developing world. We are combining our experiences and perspectives to produce THE book on solar pumping.

Push the button for a preview (it's not up to date):

Solar Water Pumping • book promo

TV Interview

In 2012 I was pleased to be interviewed for KNME TV, along with my colleague Allan Sindelar. I discuss my point of view, and how I was able to support myself in a field that the "experts" declared unfeasible. Length: 12 minutes.

Turn on the TV – HERE