The development and initial testing was performed at a site in the dry grassland hills on the western edge of the Diablo Mountain Range in Milpitas California. The soils at the test site are heavily laden with clay compounds forming a 2 foot thick hard pan cap at the surface. But even in the summer months with no rain, the soil below the hard cap held moisture. The device in its current design generated one cup of water per week at this site.

The solar well was tested further in the Owens Valley just east of Independence California at the base of the Inyo Mountains. Soils in this region of the Owens valley are dry and predominately sandy, (basically decomposed granite). The primary water source (the Owens River) in this region was 1 mile away from the test site. The test was run in August of 2012 for a month. The Solar Well produced one cup of water daily. What was interesting, besides the amount of water it was producing, is that it lowered the surface temperature of the surrounding soil . For a 5 foot radius around the Solar Well the ground surface temperatures were 88 degrees. Outside that 5 foot radius the surface ground temperatures were 120 degrees. This indicates that the capillary effects of water vapor moving through the soil to the device was larger than the 24” footprint of the Solar Well. Daily air temperatures ranged between 80 to 85 degrees.
As a negative test the Solar Well was installed in the town of Darwin california (just west of Death Valley). The ground was so hard the 24” x 16” hole to install the device had to be dug with a Jack Hammer. The expectations were realized for that test…. Soils with no moisture will not release water to the Solar Well.

The current test site is located in the Sierra Nevada Foothills at about 3,300 feet above sea level. It is located 1/2 hour drive south of the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. Currently there are two Solar Wells installed at this site. They were installed 1 year apart. The first Solar Well verified that the moisture held in the soil at this Sierra site could be vaporized, condenced into water and collected for output measurement all year long. The second device was installed with the sole purpose to water a young oak tree.

Solar Well #1

Solar Well #1 was installed on 2-2-23 and removed on 2-3-34. Modifications to the external configuration were made to deflect forest debris (leaves/sticks), and a tube was added to the device that drains any rain water captured on top of the condensation cone, into the soil beneath the condensation cone. Water output results were collected and documented in the "Daily Weather Observations" pages and on "Sierra Nevada Foothills Test Site" page. The device was installed during the winter because the soil at the test site is difficult to dig during the summer months. It too has a hard pan clay cap, (about 1.5 feet thick).

A total of 70.53 cups of water were produced by the device over a full 12 months of time. (4.4 gallons of pure distilled water).

From February 2023 through May 2023 the device produced 14.25 cups of water.
From June 2023 through September 2023 the device produced 35.78 cups of water.
From October 2023 through January 2024 the device produced 20.5 cups of water.

Solar Well #2 was installed on 1-31-24 with the sole intent to test the devices ability to sustain a young tree during the summer months.The same modifications were made to the external configuration to deflect forest debris (leaves/sticks), and a tube was added to the device that drains any rain water captured on top of the condensation cone, into the soil beneath the condensation cone. Solar Well #2 is not installed 18" deep below the soils surface. It is installed 3" below the soil surrface for two reasons. First it exposes the exterior wall of the device to more surface heating from solar radiation. Second, the tube that delivers the water outside the device is now at the soils surface so it can be easily led to a young oak tree. Before planting the tree I am ensuring that the device performs it's job by temporaily installing a small water bottle to collect water produced by the device. The young oak tree to be planted at SW #2 is a two year old Cork Oak. Cork oaks are native to North Africa, Portugal and Spain. I have several Cork Oaks growing on land adjacent to the test site. I planted some as long as 5 years ago. They are coniferous, drought tolerant trees. In a hundred years we'll be harvesting the bark for corks. To protect the young Cork Oak tree roots from grophers it will be encased in a 5" diameter, wire mesh 3' long tube shaped cylinder. As the tree grows I will protect it from the deer with a chicken wire encasement. (Although I have a couple Cork Oaks that deer have had access to - and they have not been eaten.)

Young 2 year old Cork Oak tree.

A second, one year test period will be initiated using SW #1 and SW #2. SW #1 is installed just as SW #2 (only 3" deep into the soil surface). Because the water output from SW #2 will be directed to the young oak tree it will not be measured. SW #1 will be used to collect and monitor water output with the new installation configuration. The output should parrallel the water output of SW #2 that will be watering the young oak tree. I am anticipating a higher water output from the two devices due to the increased condesation chamber temperatures.

One of the challenges of testing the Solar Well in a wilderness environment was developing deterrent obstacles to keep the wildlife from interrupting or disturbing the solar well test bed. The test site is on a ridgline that abutts 160 acres of uninhabited moutain forest. We have deer, fox, skunk, squirrels, gophers, mountain lions, and bear that frequently visit our property. To keep the deer and wild boar from stepping into the device I installed a heavy wire mesh fence around the device. Because gopher and ground squirrels live in the area I have a chicken wire mesh screen under the solar well's open cavity. ( the bottom of the device that is open to the soil). Throughout a year of testing a gopher/gophers bored tunnels all around the device. They would freqently transport soil from their tunnels to the open cavity in the ground next to the solar well. This open cavity is where I placed a 2 gallon bucket with a lid. The jug that stored the water output from the solar well was held in this bucket. The top of this bucket was about 1 foot below the soil surface, so this void is the location the gophers habitually dumped their tunnel taillings. To gain access to the water jug in the bucket I would have to remove the soil by hand to gain acces to the bucket lid. Over the one year test period a total of 6 cubic feet of soil/taillings was dumped into the open cavity above the plastic bucket. I placed the tailings next to the test area.

The images below show the results of the gopher activity and the removal of the device after 1 year of testing. The chicken wire under the solar well prevented the gophers from entering the condensation chamber.

The water storage jug inside the bucket - observe the tunnel hole in the wall of the open cavity.

The open cavity full of goppher tunnel taillings & growing pile of gopher taillings.

Observe two gopher tailling holes and tailings. End of 1 year test - 6 cubic feet of gopher hole taillings.

Removal of the Solar Well hardware after 1 full year of testing. It has been reinstalled in a different configuration.

I was suprized to see plant life / native grass growing in the condensation chamber. It is 18" below the soil surface. and fully sealed off from the grasses at the surface.