Autonomous Solar Powered Greenhouse Aquaponics System

dcoady

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here are the pictures.....

cheers,
dan

dcoady

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dcoady

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Ronmaggi

Charlie

Looks fantastic

Rodm

Great system :thumbright:

Journeyman

Wow... coming along nicely. One question though - how long do those liners last in GB's? Is it going to be a hassle replacing them or are they likely to last like a decade or so? I use IBC's so I haven't looked at liners at all.

dcoady

Rodm wrote:

I wish I could offer advice but my solar system was based on availability of components and built with technical ignorance - but it works well.
Perth is one of if not the most remote capital city in the world so we are resourceful and known to jury rig things - that's my excuse. :oops:

I have 6 panels of 60w each split into three systems with two panels (120w) charging their own 24amp/hr sealed lead acid battery. Not planned for but it does give me some contingency as it is unlikely all three supplies will fail at the same time. eg I can survive one dead battery and still pump and aerate.
Back up is a 12v switchmode power supply and two way switching to enable it. There are more elegant solutions to backup supply using electronics but that is above my head.

A photo of the panels and the control box is on the right hand post.

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One way you can extend your battery life is to install timers. I use 12 volt timers I purchased off ebay for under $20 each. They only have 16 on/off cycles so I have them set for 15 mins running every hour 7am to 7pm and three hour interval with longer pumping times overnight. It is working well like this.

Ebay listing here:

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_trks ... &_from=R40

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and rear view shows DIN mounte

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I look forward to seeing your progress.

looks good. i want to have my pumping constant so timers aren't currently necessary. i read somewhere that you get better pump lifetimes if they are run constant versus starting and stopping frequently...any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

cheers,

Journeyman

Most machinery works longer if you don't start and stop it - the cool down/warm up cycle is where most of the wear and tear occurs. I saw figures once that with cars, more than 80% of the wear occurs in the first 30 seconds - I've never driven any of my cars on startup since. Waiting that 30 seconds and letting oil get to the parts etc has meant absolute minimum in bills for me. I had a Hyundai Accent for 11 years and spent under $4,000 on it, including services, trune-ups and tyres. Did 160,000k's in it at full highway spoeed and it was a nippy thing until the day I traded it.

Tolerances are usually based on running temps - it doesn't make sense to gauge a machine at cold start temps - it would seize every time it got warm.

I think if you can minimise the start/stop your stuff will last longer - it's one reason why I like bell siphons - I get flood and drain without having to stop my pump.

dcoady

Ronmaggi wrote:

If you are using microsloth, just right click on the photo, select edit. Microsloth paint will load. In the edit menu you have the option to resize. Make sure the maintain aspect ratio is checked, and select the pixels option. Then type 800 in the width field. Double check to make sure the height is 600 or under. If it is more just edit that field to 600 and the other field will be reduced accordingly. If there is any cropping you want to do, do that first. Save your file with a new name and upload the newly edited file.

thanks for the help.

cheers,

dcoady

Journeyman wrote:

Wow... coming along nicely. One question though - how long do those liners last in GB's? Is it going to be a hassle replacing them or are they likely to last like a decade or so? I use IBC's so I haven't looked at liners at all.

thanks...the pond liners are made of UV stabilized polyethylene. they are warrantied for 25 years when used in outdoor pond applications. since my growbeds are far more gentle on the liner than normal pond conditions, i suspect it will outlast my growbed frames by a considerable margin, especially considering the frames were made out of untreated douglas fir. even if it were to need replacing the actual replacement would be very simple....that is of course discounting the gravel removal and replacement which would not be easy in the least. my best guess is that the pond linear will last every bit as long as an ibc, maybe even longer due to its UV stabilization.

cheers,

dcoady

Journeyman wrote:

Most machinery works longer if you don't start and stop it - the cool down/warm up cycle is where most of the wear and tear occurs. I saw figures once that with cars, more than 80% of the wear occurs in the first 30 seconds - I've never driven any of my cars on startup since. Waiting that 30 seconds and letting oil get to the parts etc has meant absolute minimum in bills for me. I had a Hyundai Accent for 11 years and spent under $4,000 on it, including services, trune-ups and tyres. Did 160,000k's in it at full highway spoeed and it was a nippy thing until the day I traded it.

Tolerances are usually based on running temps - it doesn't make sense to gauge a machine at cold start temps - it would seize every time it got warm.

I think if you can minimise the start/stop your stuff will last longer - it's one reason why I like bell siphons - I get flood and drain without having to stop my pump.

i am on the same page...hence why i chose bell siphons for the first two growbeds (slow fill, fast drain) which dumps the water into the lower two growbeds (fast fill, slow drain) that have a valve to regulate water release. the outer two growbeds (one high and one low) are connected and the central two are connected, both sets of growbeds connections are independent of each other.

cheers,

tojo

I think you should look at Rob's (web4deb) autonomous greenhouse (I thought about it seeing your GBs which reminded me of his), he has a geodesic dome on solar panels.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8898&hilit=web4deb

Journeyman

dcoady wrote:

Ronmaggi wrote:

If you are using microsloth, just right click on the photo, select edit. Microsloth paint will load. In the edit menu you have the option to resize. Make sure the maintain aspect ratio is checked, and select the pixels option. Then type 800 in the width field. Double check to make sure the height is 600 or under. If it is more just edit that field to 600 and the other field will be reduced accordingly. If there is any cropping you want to do, do that first. Save your file with a new name and upload the newly edited file.

thanks for the help.

cheers,

I like Irfanview for picture manipulation, partly because it handles more types, partly because it has an add-in that creates pics specifically for web - you can also set the percentage quality for jpg files, which is handy if you want to show your pics but not in such good quality people can copy them and use them for printing etc.

Very versatile program, runs flawlessly and it is FREE.

You can get it from http://www.irfanview.com/ - note the download box on the right also has plug-ins? You will want them also.

kar4499

How is the system working?

How autonomous is the system? What maintenance is involved?

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

Autonomous Solar Powered Greenhouse Aquaponics System

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics