Let’s power an aquaponics setup with a solar system!
The aim of aquaponics is to produce sustainable and healthy food. To achieve this result, we use natural principals. One of the critical points of aquaponics is that we must create a water movement. We use a water pump to raise the water from the fish tank to the grow-bed. This little pump unfortunately consumes power. Therefore, it has an impact on the environment. As a sustainable grower I often focus on minimizing this quantity of energy consumed. If you haven’t yet, I recommend you to watch my video on “How to select the best water pump” here later.
Today, I would like to go one step further. Let’ talk about the possibility to install solar panels around your aquaponics system. As a result, you can run the setup completely off the grid. This is technically possible but we will see that there are some points of focus to cover.
Is solar aquaponics sustainable?
Also, from a sustainable perspective, one question remain… Are solar panels more eco-friendly than a classic pump linked to the grid? This equipment include the solar panels, the regulator and the battery system. The process of producing this equipment has a significant impact on the environment. Furthermore, the recyclability of the materials once out of use is not guarantee. It probably generate significant wastes…
It is important to keep in mind that several types solar systems are available. They vary in terms of size and technology. The first option is to go for a low budget system. This means a small solar panel (20-100w) with a little battery able to hold a limited quantity of power. Depending on the area where you live, you may find that the setup doesn’t generate enough power to run the water pump 24/7. You have the possibility to put the water pump on a timer. Let’s say 10 mins on / 15 mins off. But even with this type of setup, you may go through grey days and the pump will turn off for hours. You therefore need to build an ecosystem able to survive to those conditions.
In this video, I develop this point and advise to choose fish such as goldfish, carps, catfish or tilapia. They can survive in very low oxygen concentration. It is also very important to work with a low fish density. As a result, the fish can survive to long periods without pumps. That is to say without water re-circulation and oxygen supply.
Get the full solar setup!
You also have the option to equip your house with a solar panel system and large batteries. in this case, your aquaponics would run from the general solar panel such as any other equipment in your house. This is probably a very eco-friendly option. The larger setups tend to be more efficient than the small systems.
Finally, if you have a commercial aquaponics farm, you can also equip it with large solar systems. It will provide power for all the pumps of your farm.
You will probably be interested to discover my six steps to build and manage an Aquaponics system. Click here to access for free! Thanks and good reading 🙂
