Alt Energy to power the tank

its a little pricey to set up a system that works very well, but I did burst out laughing when I noticed your asking about solar energy and you live in the lower mainland.... lol.... we'll just say you wont be getting your full moneys worth.... but power to you! Im a strong supporter of alt energy.

We just gota figure out how we can lynch the stupid mother $^%$%#'s promoting/suporting ethenol fuel as something good...........I could kill!!!

[hillbillyreefer]

The setup will probably not be cost effective, cheaper to use the grid.

As for ethanol, I get a huge grin everytime grain prices go up. The enviromentalists really shot themselves in the foot on that one. Let's use food to run motors, idiots. Obviously we had too much food to have that little respect for it. But hey I'm all for burning food as an energy source, maybe the next mortgage payment won't be such a problem.

[Chad]

Well, I was considering it more for such things as power heads, which generally have a very low wattage. I guess it would not be that cost effective unless you had the system running for a very long time but then you could use the panels for something else as well.

I will have to see, I found a few panels that produce 110w for a relatively decent price.

[hillbillyreefer]

It's an interesting topic for a slow Friday afternoon. How much are the decent price 110w panels? I just got some 12v xenon headlights I'm going to rig into a reflector for my tank. I was just going to use a storage battery and a charger to fire the bulbs. Solar panels may not be a bad way to go, in the future. I wouldn't need an inverter just the panels and a battery. hmmm.

[BC564]

Canadian tire had the solar panel battery regulators on sale for like $27...

[rdnicolas]

Originally Posted by UnderWorldAquatics

its a little pricey to set up a system that works very well, but I did burst out laughing when I noticed your asking about solar energy and you live in the lower mainland.... lol.... we'll just say you wont be getting your full moneys worth.... but power to you! Im a strong supporter of alt energy.

We just gota figure out how we can lynch the stupid mother $^%$%#'s promoting/suporting ethenol fuel as something good...........I could kill!!!

Yeah Ehtanol is definitley not helping the world energy crises as an alternative fuel. Its killing global wheat prices and actually takes more energy to produce and refine it that it creates. Hydrogen fuel cells sound like a better "big picture" solution.

[mark]

you're talking hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a solar panel large enough just for a PH and thousands for a return pump and a set of lights.

[Chad]

Its not completely out of the ball park.. You can build your own for half the price of a kit.

here is a kit from Home Depot

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

Granted it is expensive, but its also 1750watts and probably contains stuff you really do not require.

Anyways.. its an idea. I saw a few panels on Ebay for a few 100$ each one about 75w I think... a maxi jet 1200 is 20w. So for a small tank I think it might be interesting.

[hillbillyreefer]

$5500 for 1750 watts seems a little pricey to me, I'll have to do more looking though. Three big panels 4 deep cycle batteries and an inverter/charge controller, with some screws and mounting equipment. Shouldn't be too much trouble to pick your own parts off the shelf. I don't see anywhere the output of the panels. 1750 watt will be the inverter output, there is no mention of how long it'll maintain 1750 watts.

[mark]

The wattages given are at peak sun so factor that, then the cost for battery, charger, invertor and also consider the losses from those you need to make up for.