Solar Power Reef Tank

How many power your aquariums with solar?

  • I already have solar powering my tank!

  • I'm interested but not implementing solar

  • I have no interest in solar powering my tank


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JoeyDiesel

JoeyDiesel

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What type of power are you drawing on the equipment and how long does the battery back up last?
I get up to 900w of power during the day and use about 250-300w then during the night I'm running off the batteries. They are rated at about 5kw/h total but I've capacity tested it at 2kw at 50%dod (keeps the batteries healthy).
Generally I only consume 50-150w after the lights go out (mainly from the heater). So I can power everything for about 16 hrs then it recharges during the day.
These were the cheapest biggest batteries just to learn on, you can get far better LiFePo4 ones but they cost alot more, and this was just for fun.
 
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JoeyDiesel

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Very cool. Been wondering about doing that myself. Any chance can you give us an approximate cost of your setup? If not, totally understand.
The solar charger and inverter side of things I spent about £500 for all the parts but you can by all in one units that are only £200+ and have way more safety measures like auto transfer switch to mains.
The solar panels were cheap 100w panels for £65 each then I added 350w LG neon R panels for £200 each.
The Batteries were £70 each
Total was about £1000 but I did a bit of DIY like building an aluminium frame and copper wire which adds up.
 
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JoeyDiesel

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Perfect setup!
Exactly what I am working on.

I see you have the batteries in parallel have you tried then in series? Currently have one battery in my setup and was curious.
Thanks for sharing!
I would prefer series but my inverter is 12v so would need to buy a new 24v one which costs a lot. Next I'm going to just buy an all in one solar charger like the Growatt ones and run my batteries in 24v
 
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JoeyDiesel

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Any additional info on your tank? Size/inhabitants, etc. I'm in the solar industry (16 years) and have a solid grasp of off-grid but don't have this type of setup on my 150ish gallon tank being it didn't make sense financially. I do have a 10kw grid tied PV array and will have 3 Tesla Powerwalls in the near future. Lots of PG&E PSPS events in my neck of the woods and thankfully some good rebates available. I do appreciate you sharing your setup. Very cool!
It's a Red sea Reefer 250, Its only has 1 yellow tang 2 clowns and 3 chromis.
3x XR15s
2x T5s
2x MP40s
1x Icecap gyre
1x VectraS2
ApexEL

IMG_20200523_101908~2.jpg
 
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JoeyDiesel

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so when does your AC “Backup” kick in? Is there a voltage drop on cloudy days that causes the AC power to automatically kick in?
ATM I'm home everyday so if the batteries hit 12v and cut off power the gyre and back up heater will be there. But I have an automatic transfer switch if needed which shifts power to main when the voltage of the batteries gets too low.
 

powers2001

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Video shows how you can power a DC Tunze powerhead with a small, cheap solar panel from Harbor Freight Tools or Home Depot with a safety connector. Also shows how to connect to any low voltage battery in a poweroutage. Solar part is toward end of video.
 

KenO

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I use solar evacuated tubes to heat my 400+ gallon system. I use my Apex system to open electric valves when heat is called for. A pump in my solar reservoir pumps water thru a stainless (couldn't find titanium) heat exchange unit. My electric heaters are just backup.
I use my tankless hot water system to heat my 600 gallon setup. I found this titanium heat exchanger on eBay. Works like a charm.

 

KenO

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Now that's a compund!
Yes indeed and this is our retirement home. We did also install a whole house generator. The battery technology isn’t there yet from my perspective. We live in AZ and I need to keep the hvac systems running especially during the summer months. The genny can keep the whole house running during a power fail. The only thing we didn’t put on the genny was the pool.
 

KenO

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I want to be you when i grow up, may i ask your profession..i need goal and motivation! This has me motivated for sure
My wife and myself were electronics engineers, retired now. It’s come in handy, now I build my own DIY LED reef lighting systems. Started building LED lights in 2009 for FW planted tanks. Then for SW tanks. I even had a small business building LED light systems for the local clubs I was in and for some of the LFS. This was back before the big name led companies started building them. With all the newer LED’s available now, I’m getting ready to update my current lights to provide a wider spectrum.
 

hmmmmm

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I'm looking into doing some fragging and fish breeding, just for fun. But the electric bill was getting up there. Just wondering you guys are actually paying for power? I pay a standard fee for the delivery every month and around 25 cents ($) per kWh in the Netherlands.

Can only get solar panels on the garage, and that has a tree next to it that shades 50% of the available surface throughout the day. Getting a full install done would cost 5 grand and take 8 years to get the investment back..

So I did it myself, bought 10 second hand panels, they are 270w on paper, but we tested them and under ideal circumstances they gave between 285 en 295w. Paid 800 euros for them. Got a second hand solar inverter that uses a mini controller per panel. This means I'm not affected by the shade, normally when 2 panels are in the shade the entire string won't work, because the voltage drops too much. Now every panel is managed separately, so not ideal but better then nothing. Paid 250 for the inverter, 500 for the panel controllers. Did all the work myself so 1550 total for the entire setup. Since the equipment is still worth this if I were to sell it, I'm already feeling like I'm heating for free ;Happy In a more realistic way this will pay itself back in 2 to 3 years.

(Yes I know the bottom part of the wall looks weird, this is the old town wall from hundreds of years ago, they could not demolish it so used it as a base for the garage walls :))

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8 panels are on the garage, have 2 more on a shed, terrible place for them but it looks cool ;Smuggrin On a good day I get around 1500 watts peak, 10 to 12 kWh on the entire day.

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I'm not running any batteries. There is no use really.. any kWh I have 'leftover' are supplied back to the grid and deducted from my power bill at the end of the month. They are doing this for only a few more years, then the price I get per kWh is going down every year. Now it's a 1 to 1 ratio so no use in storing anything.

Do have some ups's I use to backup pumps, modem etc to keep things going when there is a power failure.

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Planning on using the APC ups's with external batteries when they change the system. For people looking for a cheap way to backup I have 3 tips:
1: use a battery backup they make for either the mp10\40 pumps. Or the Chinese variant for a gyre of other Chinese pump. Keep flow and oxygen and your good for a little while.
2: Get a cheap generator for emergencies, the battery will keep things going while you get home and fire the generator up. (Never leave old fuel in it!)
3: For a more complete ups backup DIY method. Get a smart ups from APC second hand (cheap models might have problems with running pumps, something to do with the sinus wave if I'm not mistaken), take the standard batteries out and put a string of big cheap batteries with the same voltage on it. Cheap way to get a lot of reserve power. Won't charge quickly but not meant for everyday use, just a cheap way to backup more equipment in case of failure. Look up some YouTube video's on modifying an old ups.
 

Trueblue17

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Currently 4 100w panels with 2x100Ah batteries as a backup this keeps my system going for a week.All my pumps and wave makers are DC.My plan is to upgrade the system to run the whole tank 24/7 from solar
ive got about the same setup as you , and I can run my system for a full day or two with all lights and pumps , probably pulling around 600-700 watts at peak light times , im planning to add a couple more panels and couple more batteries one at a time as im not rich lol but so far ive got a good start , sure helps when the power goes out , I also have mine on an automatic transfer switch and a 2000watt inverter
 
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JoeyDiesel

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ive got about the same setup as you , and I can run my system for a full day or two with all lights and pumps , probably pulling around 600-700 watts at peak light times , im planning to add a couple more panels and couple more batteries one at a time as im not rich lol but so far ive got a good start , sure helps when the power goes out , I also have mine on an automatic transfer switch and a 2000watt inverter
That's cool have you got any photos of your set up? What batteries are you running?
 

MinaSnow

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That's quite the setup you've got there! It's great to hear that you've been able to power all of your aquarium's needs with solar. I know it can be a bit intimidating to set up a solar system, but it sounds like you've got it figured out.
 

MinaSnow

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That's quite the setup you've got there! It's great to hear that you've been able to power all of your aquarium's needs with solar. I know it can be a bit intimidating to set up a solar system, but it sounds like you've got it figured out.
If you're looking for more information on solar power for your aquarium, check out https://yenex.com. They have a lot of great resources and guides that can help you understand the best way to power your tank using solar energy. They have a variety of options and solutions, from powering your lighting and heating to charging batteries and more.
 
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