Solar Energy Powering An Aquarium

kaingers

Member
It was mentioned in a "how much is your electric bill" thread, but I was curious if anyone has successfully run a tank from solar power?
 
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alexmir

Guest
Would be a cool idea. But tanks use a WHOLE lot of electricity, and solar panels are alot of money!!! SO i think it would take a really long time to see a return on the money. Plus, if you have a hurricane come over the town, and its grey skies for 2 days, no power to tank for 2 days
 

kaingers

Member
Yeah, you would want to have a back up plan like a generator for an extreme event like a hurricane, but if you have multiple tanks, I could imagine it paying for itself in a few years. I'm all about conserving energy, and would serisouly consider solar energy when I move into a house.
 

lrightmwrong

New Member
Funny this thread was posted. We are planning on doing just this! Our Electric bill shot up from $120 to $200... husband blames it on the 15 year old hand-me-down fridge... I think it's the lights, filters, heaters, etc... CALL ME CRAZY
lol. We live in Florida and the whole hurricane thing is WHY we're putting them in. They don't need a whole lotta sunlight, just some UV rays.
 

dragonboy

Active Member
They will reduce electric bill by a lot but as of now they cost too much to even be worth it unless you got lots of money to throw away then yes they help a lot on electric bill.
 

mythrenody

Member
Someone on another forum converted from MH to sun domes. DK if I can link to the thread but the product is called sun-dome by Daylighting Technologies. Said he saves like 300-500 bucks on electricity and his chiller ever turns on. Pretty neat. Wish I could do this for my 20h,hehe. Been getting great growth too and has actinic T-5 supplement. Of course he lives in CA which probably sees more sunlight than on the upper east coast.

If I ever get a house built I will incorporate these for plans on a big tank

They're basically reflecting tubes that go from the roof to where you need 'em,Obviously cant have too many bends. Pretty awsome stuff and no electricity involved. Just sunlight!
 

wangotango

Active Member
Nice idea, but right now solar panels are only about 40% efficient. Will definately help though.
Yeah I was reading through the thread on ** about the solatubes. Very neat idea and it seems like the tank is doing awesome.
-Justin
 

timbodmb

Member
If you live in CT, the state will fund your solar panels and installation. So all free! Also, if you have a surplus of energy, you can sell it back to the state. How's that for supporting "green." How about getting a check back in the mail for energy!
 

mscarpena

Member
IN NY they pay for about 60% of solar panels, but I still can not afford them. They are about $12,000 for the average house. I would love to do it though.
 

scsinet

Active Member
My electric bill came yesterday... $460. I nearly wet my pants.
The thing that's really hurting everyone is that energy costs are so much higher. I actually used slightly less electricity this August than last, but my bill is over $100 higher.
Powering a tank with solar power individually is not practical for the reasons mentioned... cloudy days... no tank power. However, most solar packages do not work this way. They come with something called a "grid tie inverter." These are power inverters that work by accepting power from the solar panel and putting the power onto the electrical system of your home, simultaneously with the regular utility power.
This means that you do not need a system big enough to support your entire tank. The solar power produced contributes to the power supplied by the utility... so if your solar system can produce 2000w total, if your home's total electricity consumption is say... 3400w, then you are only pulling 1400w from the utility. If the sun goes behind a cloud, the solar output might be only 400w, and the utility provides the other 3000. It's all seamless. Really big systems can actually be arranged to sell power back to the utility... so if your solar system is 10,000w, and your home is drawing 3400, your electric meter starts to run backwards and you are actually selling 6600w back to the utility.
I've been running the numbers myself and even with the government paying for 50% of the systems, you are still looking at a 10+ year ROI, not including maintenance costs and what have you over the life of the system. IMO it's not terribly practical yet.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
heh, my electric bill was 950 dollars.
My father's electric bill was 930...
My electric company "predicted" that we were going to use more electricity last month then what we actually used, therefore they used more natural gas to increase the supply. Since they had a surplus, they had to pass the buck along to all their customers. My electric bill increased by 146% more then usual because of all the fuel adjustment charges.
 

acroaddict

Member

hey guys heard u talking about the solatubes. heres my tank running on four tubes. SIKE. i wish i had these. look nice. found it on google.
 

luca brasi

Member
Originally Posted by MyThrenody
http:///forum/post/2741535
Someone on another forum converted from MH to sun domes. DK if I can link to the thread but the product is called sun-dome by Daylighting Technologies. Said he saves like 300-500 bucks on electricity and his chiller ever turns on. Pretty neat. Wish I could do this for my 20h,hehe. Been getting great growth too and has actinic T-5 supplement. Of course he lives in CA which probably sees more sunlight than on the upper east coast.

If I ever get a house built I will incorporate these for plans on a big tank

They're basically reflecting tubes that go from the roof to where you need 'em,Obviously cant have too many bends. Pretty awsome stuff and no electricity involved. Just sunlight!
Solar tubes thread-
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1457056
If the link's not allowed then,
reef central - hobogato - gone solar
Very cool stuff!
 

notsonoob

Member
I have a cheaper method...it is called drawing the shades that cover a window.
The installation charge is much cheaper too.
 

mr_x

Active Member
i've seen those tubes on a shallow tank at dr mac's place. i wasn't impressed. i think you have to be at the right place, and your house pointed the right way....even still, he had them on a 12" tank.
i think you lose alot of light by the time it gets to the tank.
 

natclanwy

Active Member
Originally Posted by sharkbait9
http:///forum/post/2751434
wouldn't that promote algae growth

It will only promote algae growth if you have the excess nutrients to support the growth, Sunlight does not cause algae growth, it just accelerates it because it has more light in the wavelengths the algae need than most aquarium bulbs.
I have seen a few tanks that looked great run with this way but all of them had some additional lighting so who knows how much the sunlight is actually helping. IMO a Tank lit only with sunlight would look very yellow and unappealing.
 
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