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Solar Hydroponics | |
June 24th, 2018 | |
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I'm doing some mental planning toward a very small hydroponics | |
experiment. I will likely start with just one plant, an herb, in | |
a solo environment. I know I can do a self-contained system | |
without aeration at that scale, but I want to build it as if it | |
were a larger system, but in miniature. I want the system to be | |
off-grid as well. I'd like it to be as mechanical as possible, in | |
fact. | |
I found one little video oh a solar radiation powered aerator. | |
Basically, it was an empty air chamber that was darkly colored and | |
had no-return valves that forced air in one hole only and out | |
through the "pump". The out-bound port was covered in a bubbler | |
rock. When the sun hit the bottle it heated the air inside, which | |
forced the air forward out into the reservoir. When the bottle | |
cooled it would draw more air back in through the outer valve. If | |
the sun cycled exposure at a fairly regular interval, it seems | |
like it might help circulate some into the reservoir over time. | |
There were lots of problems with it, of course. The pressure of | |
the temperature change didn't create that much air flow. If the | |
light were fairly constant it would only expel once and then be at | |
rest. It needs some work to draw and billow more air. I was | |
thinking about having a radiometer inside the chamber, as air flow | |
inside would force it to work as a more continuous air pump, but | |
I think those barely create enough force to spin in a vacuum. I'm | |
close to a solve here that does not involve electronics at all, | |
but I'm just not quite there. | |
Once that's fixed, my next line of inquiry will be nutrients. What | |
exactly goes into those fertilizer bits and how can I generate my | |
own source without a store. Is that even a reasonable thing to do? | |
If I can solve for solar powered aeration (not using solar panels | |
& electronics) and nutrient creation, then I should be able to | |
construct a fully off-grid, automated hydroponics rig. I am just | |
awful at remembering to do things on a regular basis, so if this | |
is to succeed I absolutely must automate. | |
Other things to consider: | |
- Auto-balancing water distribution to the correct levels | |
- Rotation / cycling position for sun exposure | |
- Portability of net systems for transferring between small | |
& larger rigs | |
- Auto-timing of nutrient injection & mixing | |
Do any of you have experience in hydroponics? Anything to add? |