Solar Power

[Sharlz]

Just wondering if anyone uses solar power for there tank as a main power source. Is it possible? Would be a good way to avoid those power cuts

[Ira]

Just wondering if anyone uses solar power for there tank as a main power source. Is it possible? Would be a good way to avoid those power cuts

I think the odds of a power cut occuring are significantly lower than the odds of a night occuring.

[ryanjury]

You could probably use a combination of wind/solar with large storage batteries but I think the cost would be very high and would take many years to pay off in the reduced power bills.

[Ira]

You could probably use a combination of wind/solar with large storage batteries but I think the cost would be very high and would take many years to pay off in the reduced power bills.

In which case why don't you just use the large storage batteries as a ups and save the cost of the solar/wind power.

[Sharlz]

I didnt mean as a backup system, just as a long term alternative means of powering a reef tank. Just wondering if anyone here has done it. Solar powered with a battery bank. If you going to put large amount of money into a reef tank might as well go the exra mile.

[Cricketman]

idea- feasable

reality- not going to be monetarily viable unless the setup works for many years without maintenance. And even then is not fool-proof and will probably have many "niggles" that will annoy the snot out of you.

[Ira]

I didnt mean as a backup system, just as a long term alternative means of powering a reef tank. Just wondering if anyone here has done it. Solar powered with a battery bank. If you going to put large amount of money into a reef tank might as well go the exra mile.

There's a reason they call solar/wind etc power alternative power. If it was cheaper, simpler and more reliable than mains power it would not be alternative. Have you looked at the cost of solar panels? How many you'll need will of course depend on the size of your tank. iirc my fairly basic, relatively small reef averaged around 300-400 watts over a day. Peaking somewhere around 1200 if we count the heaters. You'd need enough panels to run the tank, plus charge batteries to last you over night. Plus you'd need enough capacity to do that on cloudy days. So you'd probably need somewhere in the region of 3000 watts worth of panels which is...Ahh...About $15,000 from the looks of it. Batteries, controllers, installation etc would be probably be that much on top of it.