Introduction

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food industry in the world and

with the increase in demand and scarcity of land area for further extension,
enhancing the water productivity is becoming a prime area of research
(Karmal Sarma et, al., 2018). According to the Department of Agriculture for
the first quarter of 2021, The Urban Aquaculture Project, one of the key
strategies under the OneDA approach initiated by Agriculture Secretary
William Dar, is devised to stimulate agro-fisheries productivity in the cities by
converting vacant lots or structures into food production areas, such as
vegetable garden, aquaponics, and fish tanks or backyard fishponds. In the
Philippines, the ornamental fish industry is a big fisheries export industry. In a
2019 study of the NFRDI, it was estimated that more than 8.9 million marine
ornamental fish and 14.3 million freshwater ornamental fish are traded every
year contributing to a total of PHP 283,124,243 in trade value. Marine
ornamental fishes are usually collected from regions with rich and abundant
coral reef resources such as Region IV-A (65.56%), Region III (23.18%) and
Region VII (4.63%). Meanwhile, majority of the freshwater ornamental fishes
are bred in aquaculture facilities located in Region IV-A (34.29%), Region XI
(35.41%), Region VI (11.96%), and Region III (10.43%). These fishes are
heavily traded in major urban centers like Metro Manila and Cebu, making
ornamental fishes a lucrative source of livelihood for urban city dwellers. Solar
water pumps are powered by solar panels. Once you have the panel, all the
energy you need comes from the sun and is completely free!This is a major
advantage over fossil fuel pumps which require you to constantly buy fuel.
Fuel can add a significant cost to your farm irrigation. Using free solar energy
is also an advantage over manual irrigation which takes up a lot of your
valuable energy and time.
The use of Solar powered aerator has many advantages. You just
need to buy solar panels and the energy from the sun is free. According to
Karmal Sarma et, al., 2018, the use of solar powered sprinkler type of aerator
can be an efficient system for improving dissolved oxygen level in water
thereby increasing growth, survival and overall production of fish. Solar water
pumps can really reduce the amount of labour and time that is needed to
irrigate your crops. Just connect it to your chosen irrigation method, turn on
your solar pump and it does all the work for you. Solar pumps also
require less labour and maintenance compared to fossil fuel pumps. First, you
won’t run out of fuel and need to travel to the petrol station when your crops
are desperate for water. Second, solar pumps, especially with good warranty
periods, won’t let you down, whereas fossil fuel pumps require a lot of
servicing and regular maintenance (Herman,2021). Solar energy is also one
of the energy sources for aquaculture in many countries in the world,
including China, America, Canada, Germany, Korea, and Vietnam. It is
applied for the culturing of many aquatic species, including fresh water,
seawater. For instance, photovoltaic power is used for the aeration of
fishponds, and new energy technologies are applied for marine fish hatchery
production. The more that aquaculture production has dramatically increased,
the more intensively energy has been consumed, especially from non-
renewable sources. As the price of energy increases, it strongly impacts on
aquaculture industry activities, which may reduce food security at the local,
regional, and global level In aquaculture, energy intensity depends on
cultured species, scale, system, technology, production, and local conditions.
Many studies have been conducted to determine the energy intensity used in
different culture systems with various aquatic species. Toner and Mathies
conducted an experiment to estimate the energy consumption for three inland
aquaculture sites—a farm for Pacific oyster, a farm for rainbow trout, and a
farm for marine fish grown under recirculation. The results showed that
energy production for a Pacific oyster farm is equal to energy consumption for
a family. On the other hand, the most power is used for purification systems,
and then the pond aerator with 33.6 kilowatt-hours (kWh)/week, and 15.4
kWh/week, respectively. The most power is used for the aeration system
(23.8 kWh/week) and recirculation system (13.440 kWh/week) in the farm for
rainbow trout and for marine fish, respectively ( Overview of Maximum Power
Point Tracking Methods for PV System in Micro-Grid).
This study aimed to determine efficiency and effectiveness of solar
aerators in fish tanks to increase the production and secure the well-being of
fishes. This study hypothesized that the use of solar powered aerators can
increase production of fishes more than the use of electricity or fuel.This
study will help all the aqua farmers by giving them solution to the problem of
higher electrical bills or expensive fuels. This study can serve as reference to
the future researches regarding the use of solar powered aerator.

References / Bibliography
(Kamal Sarma*, A. Rahman and A. Dey) IMPACT OF SOLAR OPERATED
AERATOR ON DISSOLVED OXYGEN AND FISH GROWTH
(Herman,2021).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC) (Date assessed: 14 February
2019) CITES status: Appendix II (International trade monitored) Sources:
http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/18228/en
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/16564/50369125
https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Peponocephala-electra.html Special
Overview of Maximum Power Point Tracking Methods for PV System in
Micro-Grid)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/6923
Solar Powered Aerator for
Fish Tank

Aringo, Jovan
Ezpeleta, Julian
Failanza, Ranier
Gunay, Mattheo
Jolorte, Dane Andee
Sobrevega, Raphael