Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Following a truck today a couple of boxes flew off the back (Yes really) almost running me off the road ,after gathering up the boxes and taking a peek inside there were 4 of these inside undamaged apart from a scratch.
http://www.solaronline.com.au/cgi/index ... 1107358704

The question now has to be asked how to incorporate these into a backup system?
I know very little in the workings of solar power.

:envy:
very envious.

Lungy did you get just the panels?

You will need to buy a regulator/cattery charger, and get some car batteries or 12V gellcells or similar.
Then you can run bilge pumps, actuated valves, pretty much anything you like. I fyou want to run 240V stuff youll need to invest even more money, yet if you were to detail what you'd Like to use them for then we may be able to help.

According to the advert, they're 64W you have 4 so that makes 256W
which means in full sun they will make 0.25kWh every hour.
The question then becomes how much 'full sun' can you give them.

My guess is that due to losses, you would be lucky to power a 100W electrical device 24/7 with these panels.
But they'd do a super job of being an emergency backup.
then (unless you're always out of power) it depends on the battery size.
eg you get a huge battery, and the panels will keep them full until a breakdown and then charge them up, so long as there's sufficient charging times between power-outs

Did I mention Envy?

The advert also said "unbreakable construction".....

Just as well eh Lungy

Yep couple of hours ago


Plenty of full sun around here


Yep couple of times

As far as what I currently have is a 150w pump and a couple of 10 w bubblers so far.
I`m thinking of running continuously 24/7 at the moment

Yep sure are strong little buggars

I am certain that they will not support this power load. they can only get rated current for max 8 hours a day, and that'd be in the desert.

What I meant was, was it jst panels you got or did they have some circuitry with them... :-)

Sorry Kuda yeah just panels.

pity that Lungy... you'll have to get panel battery chargers. These are specialised I think, a standard regulator/charger wont quite cut it... not sure about that. Maybe just not as efficient.
And you'll need some batteries, SLA (sealed lead acid) or gelcells, deep cycle will do the trick nicely.
you windfall is going to cost you a little to get going... but it will be worth it. Alchemist has solar panels running backup pumps... perhaps ask him for some first hand advice?

Cheers KP gives me a place to start.

Tim C has played around with solar quite a bit Lungy... I'd talk to him

And Tony from WA powers (or tries to) his whole house and is looking to incorporate solar into his AP system

Fell of the back of a truck?
Didn't you just get a free IBC, hope you bought a lotto ticket.

Nah no need found one while walking through the shops.

prolly best to speak to someone in the know before hooking stuff up. i know the first temptation would be to just hook up a 12V load, but did you notice how the voltage is 16.something?

i'd say you definatly need the charger module and battery. my understanding is that it basically regulates the voltage to that suitable for charging the 12V batteries, using more current to boost the voltage as the light level drops......

Talk to a 4WD or camper conversion type shop.....

They'd know exactly what to do and could tell you what works and what doesn't...

Hi Lungy,

Great find but the advantages of solar aren't a laydown misere.

I've got a pretty small set-up, a 20W Unisolar panel that used to be for a composting loo air vent fan and a 68W Unisolar film laminated to "Corrugated iron" that I borrowed from my (old) work. When these are combined in parallel I have in theory 12V DC and about 7.5 amp (90W). These are comnnected to a 150W/10A max solar controller which is connected to a deep cycle battery (12V DC second-hand golf cart type with 38Ah of storage) and (via a 12VDC to 240VAC inverter)to a 20W air pump for about 18 hours emergency aeration in the case of a power outage.

Despite how I might have made it sound, 12V (or 24V) DC solar systems are straightforward to connect up and they don't need an electrician. The solar controller is a simple device. Its primary function is to provide terminals to go from the solar panels to a battery and to the pump/light whatever and to ensure (via a diode) that the stored charge doesn't discharge through the solar panels at night. You don't need an inverter if you use a 12VDC or 24VDC pump etc.

The solar panels are the most expensive. Your 256W of freebies would cost between $3000 and $4000 retail and you can do an awful lot with 256W ...while the sun is shining (6 to 7 hours per day max.?). Incidentally, the real output might only be 80% of nominal. So..while the sun is shining you will have your continuous 170W for your pump and blowers with a few watts over but not enough to charge any storage batteries for overnight or 24/7 use without Mains power augmentation which really defeats the purpose.

You could consider using the set-up as a full back-up for your system in the case of power outage. This would merely require a small relay to switch the power over to solar in this event. Without batteries the solar panels will do their job while the sun is shining...not very secure. With batteries you can guarantee a certain period for the back-up system to operate and this will depend on the storage capacity (Ah= amp.hours) of the batteries. You need 200w probably at 24VDC and 8 amps so for 12 hours back-up (assuming the sun isn't shining) you need a 24VDC battery (or two 12VDC connected in series) with 100Ah of life.

Deep cycle batteries can be expensive but second-hand ones are around and you can also see them offered fairly cheaply on e-Bay. The other bits and bobs aren't too expensive; less than $100 for a solar controller and less than $100 for an inverter, if you need one.