Need to pump a well.

So I spoke with a gentleman today who wanted to know what would be the best way to get the water out of his well using a inline pump that sets about 1"-6" above the water level.he wants to set it up to where this pump will run off of a solar panel and backup battery power system.

The main problem is he has a container that he wants to fit a small pump into but he only has 4"-5" of space in this box he's using. Also the pump he was using is a 42 psi pump and when ever the water got about 2'-3' (is a 25' well) from the surface the weight of the water would prevent the pump from pushing the water any further.

He did get curious about whether or not air could be used to pump the water out.

Personally I'm not sure how to help him I've done some online digging but haven't found any thing to help.

Any suggestions?

The basic parameter to use for pumps his how much lift or head they can push in a certain size pipe. From that you will know the pump size and its power requirement. You can back into that with how much power (actual amps for DC or AC) you have available to run it. Oftentimes it is easier to determine the length a pump can suck water and then the head from that.
I'm interested in using solar as a means to pump from a shallow well also, so then you get into how to break down your amperage from the wattage available, either live or storage and can roll from there.
My intent is to use the pump to fill a cistern/tank setup to then gravity feed the rest of my system with critter watering systems as a primary initially.