Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey guys and gals!

I have been enjoying aquaponics for awhile now. This year, I am wanting to make my set up even more self sufficient and take it off of my homes power grid. It does not use all that much electricity, but a penny saved is a penny earned.


My questions are pretty simple, im sure someone with more experience will think they are common knowledge.

I have no idea how to figure out how much power I need to be able to produce, in order to run the equipment I have.

I dont have much plugged in, Airpump for aeration, my main flow pump, and a smaller pump that just pumps water up into a spray bar that empties straight back into the tank.

I have a Deep Cycle Marine Battery on hand, and I am looking at this solar panel kit and this inverter:

Solar Kit
http://www.amazon.com/20W-12V-Solar-Sys ... U5HDAPDC75

Inverter:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Inverter-30 ... r+inverter

It is unlikely that that 20W solar panel will be anywhere near sufficient to keep your system running for any length of time, it is just too small.

Re that inverter, I honestly would not attempt to use it, you generally get what you pay for with this sort of gear. It wont be a sine wave inverter, the waveform will be something nasty- square and/or triangular and your air and water pumps will be noisier and may have a shorter life than if used with a clean power supply, and will not have as much output either.

What ratings are your various pumps, and the battery?