Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Duncan, in a solar cell, battery pack set up the system is running off the batteries all the time. The solar cells trickle charge the battery pack when ever they have enough output. So the system already knows when its not light enough. No manual switching is needed.

Finished installing the polycarbonate this weekend. Also including pictures of my solar water heater. Keeps the tank a nice warm 80 degrees through winter. Butter Lettuce is near size.

Love the twin wall poly!!

more pics

Looks good Mike! Getting enough light now? I can't emagine the transition from shingle to poly was very fun to do. Looks like ya did it though.

No it was a chore and a half. I had to sawzall through the roof and burned out ten blades getting through the asphalt. Tucking the h channel under the shingle wasnt too bad but had to be done in the morning before the sun hit it.

How's the greenhouse? Got Fish?

As far as light..it is enough for now. I will have to channel the light once inside the grow chamber. I'll put foam board all around the grow beds. That's the next phase.

No fish outside yets tank is 80 deg, the local fish wont like it that hot, still looking about and am not sure for what yet again.
Looking forward to seeing it being built and in action Mike.

Mf, can you elaborate on the heater, pipe type,length, flow rate etc, I was looking at going to a demo yard and buying an old glass door and installing something similar under the glass then enclosing it with a piece of ply, put a stop valve in so that it can be easily removed

Making good progress there - keep em comming!

Way cool..

Hey Mike, looks like a lot of work has gone into your system and it shows, I was worried when you mentioned you were going to open the roof up but it is a real neat and tidy result, looks great!

yeah, top marks Mike. Interesting to hear the details on your solar water set up

Thanks for the compliments everyone! The solar heating system consists of (8) 4’ sections of 2” abs plastic pipe and is connected to a low flow (1.5 gpm) pump in the sump tank (insulated). In the mid, late afternoon or early evening (or not at all in the summer) depending on the time of year, I run water through the pipes for about an hour or until the sump tank reaches 90 degrees (In winter the sump tank gets to 83). Once the sump tank is sufficiently heated, I switch the pump over to the main tank where it is slowly cycled through the system to bring up temps through the night. Last winter I kept my system at 80 degrees through the use of this solar radiator and the building insulation. No more glass tube heaters. My total water capacity is exactly 650 gallons.

how will the abs fare during summer with no flow? heat wise.

Gets pretty hot Steve, but no meltdown. This is second year with it and some leaks developed this summer at the joints (I expect from expansion stress). I don't know how many seasons the plastic will take the sun before it cracks, but so far I am pleased with the performance.