More News

When the sun is out, a solar energy collector pumps water to his dozens of plants.

‘‘When it’s cloudy and rainy, you don’t need to water the plants,” Spivak said.

A Bronx native, Spivak never had a green thumb until he and his wife moved to Kensington more than 10 years ago.

‘‘We were fortunate enough to have the space out back,” he said.

The career electrical engineer was at first fascinated by the science of the operation — the way the solar cell collected the light, turned it to energy and how he could run a pump with it.

Spivak realized last year that solar cells could be used to power all sorts of things, including a pump. Once he had a water source and tubes, the sun could pump water into his garden instead of him having to do it.

After rigging the tubes through the garden, Spivak said it didn’t take long before he was engrossed in the natural process.

‘‘I love growing the plants now,” he said.

A workbench in the basement is divided with okra, vines and ‘bunnytails’ on one side, and tubing, tools and engineering equipment on the other.

‘‘It’s become my laboratory,” he said.

Spivak, now retired, plans to use the ‘lab’ to expand his garden of three dozen plants watered by the solar-powered system.

A solar cell powers a pump that takes water from a homemade rain barrel through hoses that water the plants.

The hose drips water directly over the roots of the plants for efficient gardening.

Neighbor Jack Gaffey has a garden that spans his front and back yards, and that is maintained by his wife.

‘‘I thought it was neat” and very useful, he said of gardening system.

Spivak said he was surprised and excited last year when he turned on the pump and the hose leaked and dripped in the right places.

‘‘I didn’t expect it to work!” he exclaimed.

Spivak said his solar-powered system conserves water better than a traditional hose or sprinkler.

‘‘It’s just a small amount to use as opposed to the hose using dozens of gallons,” he said. ‘‘It’s quiet and clean.”

The water is stored in plastic garbage cans he bought from Home Depot rather than using more expensive rain barrels.

One barrel collects rain water from the downspout in the front of the house, and a separate can sits in the garden where the pump draws the water.

‘‘I might put something over it this year to make sure the mosquitoes stay out,” he said. ‘‘If you have standing water around, they’ll get right into it.”

This year, he has several goals in mind to improve the solar system.

One of this year’s projects is to rig another pump to take the water from the rain collecting-trash can to the garden can. Spivak hauls the rainwater from the trashcan under the downspout to the one in the garden, and another pump would cut the work in half.

‘‘You need a much bigger pump to take the water that far, and bigger tubing, but I think it can be done,” he said.

Other goals this year include measuring his utility bills.

‘‘I think [the system] will reduce it a little. Water is fairly cheap yet, but eventually everywhere is going to run out of water in the future,” he said.

He also plans to attend gardening conferences and fairs to promote the use of solar-powered gardening.

‘‘It’s actually really easy and something that I think can catch on,” he said.