Utilizing nature to create a zero impact, zero waste, carbon positive, completely self sustainable eco system,
... producing fresh organic fruits , vegetables, fish, crayfish & energy - In our backyard.

Welcome to our adventure ...

Aquaponics is a natural eco-system, which organically produces vegetables, fish & crayfish. It is the integration of fish cultivation, aquaculture, with hydroponic plant production.

Fish wastes are 'filtered' by natural bacteria producing a rich nutrient source for the plants. The plants utilize these nutrients for growth, thus purifying the water to then be returned to the fish. This continuous cycle is what happens in a nature.

Aquaponics has many advantages including, requiring much less space than traditional farming methods, highly efficient food productive method - potentially higher than hydoponics, with zero environmental impact.

- No chemical fertiliser's, pesticides, insecticides or soil conditioners are used.

- Zero water waste. All water is constantly purified by the plants and recirculated back to the fish.

- 100% of all nutrients are used, creating two crops from one nutrient source - the fish food.

- 100% of wastes generated are utilized on site through filters that feed the plants. Worm composts & Black Soldier Fly's are utilized for all vegetable off cuts and house hold waste's, creating natural healthy fish food source's. Worm & BSF castings being used for enhancing soil condition.

- As a source of protein, fish are the most efficient convertors out of all our farmed animals, achieving feed to flesh conversion efficiency close to 100%.

Aquaponics is a 100% natural eco-system.

PVA has also incorporated a totally off grid solar power installation, supplying power for the system, work shed and computers.

Off Grid Solar Panel System - DIY

Progress happens slowly here... and so do the updates, sorry.

We have encountered some problems along the way and have had to adjust some things, I will mention them as I go.

All 6 x 180w solar panels are now in place on the tracking frame. The purchased drive motor isn't strong enough and I rather like the DIY drill motor / driver, though it's clutch mechanism needs improvement & we havn't installed the sun tracking board yet, so tracking is still manual.
The front of the electrical housing shows the top unit is a 2kw Photovoltaic Charger, the solar panels wire into here. This unit regulates the charge to the batteries and is the brains of the system.
The next unit down is a 600w 12/240v Inverter.
Bottom row right is the main isolator switch.
Bottom left & centre show the 20amp & 50amp circuit breakers that service the 600w & 1500w Inverters.
These are an Absolute Must !!!
 The rear of the unit houses the 1500w inverter.
On the timber post is the tracker motor on/off switch, below is the DIY drive motor.
The last drama encountered forced a bit of major re-think resulting in the above configuration...
Batteries !
Several of the ex-train batteries we got at a 'cheap' price would not take a full charge, that left only 2 x 2kw batteries for storage. In hind sight, that is still 3 days & nights worth of power running our system.
Originally was planned & purchased a 6kw inverter but with only 25% of planned battery capacity it seemed a waste. The 600w inverter was wired up from day 1 and then added the 1500w inverter when the final 3 solar panels were finished.

The final config alteration is underway.
Underground wiring is being dug & laid directly from solar system to the shed. Separate underground wiring is done, from the shed to the aquaponics system. When complete, a separate power board in the shed will auto detect week/drained/failed battery power supply and switch to mains power from the house. Also wired in will be a mains charging system for the solar batteries. Mains power is virtually free due to a 10kw solar system on the house.

Finally, a rare sunny winters day - July 2012

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