Fans for Cooling Fixture with Solar Panel

1085 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Wasserpest, Oct 1, 2007

Cocobid

Discussion Starter · Sep 30, 2007

Last night I was up and could not sleep! Started thinking about how to convert an existing fixture to higher wattage.
So just bear with me here.

Had a thought that if one were so inclined you could buy a small solar collection strip and connect it to the fans inside of light fixture or hood and create the energy to run the fans off of the light being generated by the light itself. An idea of painting the exterior side of solar strip black (for cosmetics) and lying absorbing side on top of the aquarium glass next to the light and surely with amount of light reflected would run a fan or two.
My geek IQ is a 1 so please jump in here.

I am installing a 55g down in the Plumeria Greenhouse. Was thinking how to harness the power there to run the filter. Took it one step further to inside the house. You could place a panel in a window...etc. This is not my forte.

There must be some of you here that can inject some brain power into this idea. But I do like the idea of using the light coming off the light fixture itself for something, other than making our utility companies wealthier ~~~~~

Karen/Cocobid

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Cocobid

Discussion Starter · #2 · Sep 30, 2007

Was googling and ran across this site and found many more compact collection devices. Not advocating these just the idea!!!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/20_solar_panel.php

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eyebeatbadgers

· #3 · Sep 30, 2007

Sounds like a great idea. My only input is that our cooling fans and most of our filters really draw very little power. The cost of the solar panel and associated technology would make such an endeavor fruitless I'm afraid. Running your lights from solar energy may be more productive.

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tropicalfish

· #4 · Sep 30, 2007

I think it could work with some of the larger filters too, provided you had a large enough battery and solar panel, with the panel in a good sun receiving place on the roof. It makes no sense to power a solar panel with light from an electrical source.

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Wasserpest

· #5 · Oct 1, 2007

Cocobid said:
But I do like the idea of using the light coming off the light fixture itself for something, other than making our utility companies wealthier ~~~~~

Karen/Cocobid

Well mainly the light from the fixture is supposed to go into the tank... If you are looking for efficiency, go with a good reflector which directs the majority of the light downwards to grow the plants.

Using a solar-panel driven fan is a good idea though, I guess there would be three (or more) reasons NOT to do that, 1) not cost effective, 2) like mentioned above, reflectors direct the light into the aquarium, the panels will not be reflecting well and therefore reduce the overall efficiency of the fixture and 3) I am not sure what heat and moisture do to solar panels, they might die an early death.

I wouldn't try to solar power filters... they need to run reliably 24/7, and the needed wattage is way, way more than you need for say powering a fan.

Use solar panels to heat your water for showers etc... that's relatively simple and environmentally friendly.

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