Solar panel for powering aquariums?

O

ollobono

Feeder Fish
Jun 5, 2014
2
0
0
New York
Ok so I used a few calculators here and online and with the amount of wattage the tank produce, I will pay about 1 USD(US dollar) per day. One dollar per day doesn't look so bad, but if I run for a year, it will cost me around 365 dollars. Who wants to pay that much? With 365 bucks, I can probably set up another huge aquarium. I was thinking of using solar panels. I looked online and I saw a 500 dollar kit, but it will only provide me 25-50% of the energy. It's not worth investing the money for it. I looked for DIY solar panels since we are DIY people. I saw this website (http://solarekit.com/) and it showed a video on how to make one for around 90-100 dollars and save around 80 dollars per month. That sounds too good to be true and the video presentation looks like it's false advertisement. I asked my mom and she agreed on trying it. The instruction kit costs 50 dollars, but hopefully, I can find a free design that will work. If I can make a 100 dollar solar panel that can power twice the amount my aquarium makes, I'll probably make a ton and make the whole house 100% solar powered.


Anybody tried that website yet? Anybody made a DIY solar panel yet? Any tips?


Hopefully I can finish it before school starts and show you guys on how I make one so you can make one for yourself too IF it works.


I'll probably start my August with a week long research.




Also coming soon: I just finished my 110 gallon set up Click here to enlarge Explanation of my aquarium will come soon. Right now I'm going to Homedepot to buy paint to paint the stand brown.
 
J

js302

Candiru
MFK Member
Dec 4, 2005
650
10
48
England
:iagree:
 
H

houie925

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 12, 2008
827
8
48
Manteca, California
There was a recent thread about solar.
Check a solar calculator to see how large a system is actually necessary to cover the cost of running your tank.
Charging $50 for instructions doesn't pass the smell test for me and the site gets blocked on my work computer.
 
P

PhysicsDude

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 18, 2011
190
28
61
Dallas, TX
Its gonna take a lot of solar panels to generate $80 of electricity per month.

The website you're looking at is basically a scam. Extremely exaggerated claims.

NY also doesn't have very strong sunlight, since its a a pretty high latitude.

You can buy some solar panels and inverters on ebay and such that are probably good deals if you're competent to install them yourself (its not as easy as it looks). Really hard to know what is legit and what isn't. But even if you get a good deal, and install yourself, you're looking at more like $5000 worth of solar panels getting you $50 of electricity per month.
 
J

Jag586

Piranha
MFK Member
May 28, 2012
1,234
36
81
st clair shores
I'd hate to say but it'll cost more then 100 bucks, I'm sorta a prepper type you know stocking food and supplies incase a natural disaster well anyway one of the things I want to do is set up a pop up camper with solar panels my friend is smart as a whip and helped me look into it.

A. You can save money by hooking it up yourself
B. You can save more money by buying cracked panels you have to do some xtra wiring but in the long run if not having perfect square panels is ok it's cheaper
C. You need batteries deep cycle batteries these are a must and get expensive sure you can have the energy run straight to your pump but what are you going to do at night? When it's cloudy?
D. You need a converter to turn the battery power into power your lights and such can use

A wind turbine is a little better if you live in a area with some wind it works all day and all night cheaper (my buddy is building one out of a treadmill motor) but local laws might not allow them.

And last to run your whole house you'd need to tie into the main system, which requires lots of inspections so a diy might not work as it might not be up to code on the plus side if you do tie into your system you might be able to make some money if you create a surplus of energy but not every electric company will pay


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
H

habidash

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 8, 2014
6
0
0
california
I had solar in stalled at my house for my tanks manly I pay 1a month for electricity but I leas the panels for like 200 cut my Bill in half totally worth it . And leasing a better option if they break or mess up they pay to fix it.not me
 
D

DavidAlej

Feeder Fish
Sep 17, 2014
1
0
0
usa
ollobono said:
Ok so I used a few calculators here and online and with the amount of wattage the tank produce, I will pay about 1 USD(US dollar) per day. One dollar per day doesn't look so bad, but if I run for a year, it will cost me around 365 dollars. Who wants to pay that much? With 365 bucks, I can probably set up another huge aquarium. I was thinking of using solar panels. I looked online and I saw a 500 dollar kit, but it will only provide me 25-50% of the energy. It's not worth investing the money for it. I looked for DIY solar panels since we are DIY people. I saw this website (http://solarekit.com/) and it showed a video on how to make one for around 90-100 dollars and save around 80 dollars per month. That sounds too good to be true and the video presentation looks like it's false advertisement. I asked my mom and she agreed on trying it. The instruction kit costs 50 dollars, but hopefully, I can find a free design that will work. If I can make a 100 dollar solar panel that can power twice the amount my aquarium makes, I'll probably make a ton and make the whole house 100% solar powered.


Anybody tried that website yet? Anybody made a DIY solar panel yet? Any tips?


Hopefully I can finish it before school starts and show you guys on how I make one so you can make one for yourself too IF it works.


I'll probably start my August with a week long research.




Also coming soon: I just finished my 110 gallon set up Click here to enlarge Explanation of my aquarium will come soon. Right now I'm going to Homedepot to buy paint to paint the stand brown.
Click to expand...
Sounds really very impressive but I am not sure many would have tried it.. Anybody out there who can share some practical useful information?
 
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