DIY Solar Powered Aquarium Backup - PowerQueen 100ah LiFePo4 - Auto Heating

[@billydanzz]

Video how to's on electrical basics, wiring, etc. would definitely be awesome.

[@ReefDudes]

Next project video I’ll go into explaining it more. I know I have in some older vids so I’ll do a refresher!

[@millersreef]

I've been wanting to do a solar power for my reef for years but had no idea how to start. thanks!

[@ReefDudes]

Happy to help! let me know if you have any questions :)

[@Fish_Ventura]

I got an AC300 for my tank, I’m sleeping that night and dealing with it in the morning

[@telegraham]

Good share, Dev. Happy to see you moving off of those crusty old lead acids.

[@ReefDudes]

Slowly but surely!

[@DoYouEvenFishTank]

As per manufactrura specifications, these batteries should not be continously charged and should not be stored inside your house.....

[@telegraham]

Interesting, and I'd very much appreciate a link to those specs. I didn't see those notes mentioned on the Power Queen datasheet but maybe I'm not looking in the right place. Although Dev referred to the battery as lithium, this is a LiFePO4 (or LFP) battery. When equipped with a BMS, they are generally safe indoors, in RVs, boats, and essentially anywhere you might find an equivalent lead acid. As for continuous charging, whether connected to a UPS, solar charge controller, or dedicated charger, LiFePO4 chemistry allows for constant connection to the charge source. I have no less than five LiFePO4 cells that are always connected to a charger. If it's a liability thing, then that's a different story.

[@captivebredcanada]

So if the batteries can run them forever why don't you run them off solar all the time?

[@ReefDudes]

So the battery should run the dual mp60 for 2-4 ish days. With solar it would go much longer. I’m a normal situation I don’t hoveee I do know people that were a week or more without power due to sites. So it can happen. And in that scenario my tank would greatly ups the odds of survival with the sustained flow You could always run them lower snd get more run time but why not give full flow if I can!

[@captivebredcanada]

@@ReefDudes I mean why do you have them plugged into traditional power? If solar lasts so long why not ALWAYS run them off solar and save some money? Seems like a waste to invest in a backup system like this if you're only going to use it during an outage when a generator would do the trick for those instances.

[@ReefDudes]

@@captivebredcanadasolid point! The few months of winter the sun is hit or miss here but the rest of the year I absolutely could! I may just do that when spring comes :)

[@gabesreef]

That’s really cool

[@ReefDudes]

Slowly upping the tank resiliency!

[@gabesreef]

@ReefDudes almost like the tanks going to keep going in spite of you 😆

[@ReefDudes]

@@gabesreef Thats the long term goal! Its like a fish space station.. one day it will be fully self sufficient with or without me :P Just periodic supply drops :P

[@BakersReef]

Do you run any inverters off your system for ac ?

[@ReefDudes]

Not currently. DC to DC is most efficient for max runtime. One day I may do a big one on AC that runs it all

[@EugeneRu777]

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