Suitability of Solar-Powered Aquaponics System in Naic, Cavite

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is a sector of the economy that plays a major part in a country's wealth and survival. Since this sector supplies most of the basic needs of the citizens, this cannot be neglected by any country. Aquaponics is the practice related to agriculture wherein this system farms with the use of fishes' wastewater for the cultivation for the crops. This kind of method is popular in some countries like the United States. in the Philippines, agriculture is one of the main sources of livelihood. This investigatory project aimed to create a device applying the concepts of aquaponics and test its suitability in Naic, Cavite.

METHODS

The body of the device was made from polycarbonate plastic, fiberglass and angle bars. The upper part measures 29 x 30 x 23 inches and the lower part having a dimension of 30 x 35 x 24 inches. It was designed to use an Arduino UNO Microcontroller, temperature sensor to monitor the increasing or decreasing of the temperature inside the device and the pH sensor to monitor if the acidity level would change. A pump was installed to let the water flow throughout the system. A solar panel was also attached which served as the source of power. It was programmed and debugged before the functionality of each part was tested for thirty times. Mean and percentage were and used to analyze and record the data.

RESULTS

Results showed that the recording every time the device turns on the exhaust fan whenever the temperature sensor detects high temperature and turns the fan off when the sensor detects low temperature. An exhaust fan was used to manipulate the temperature that the sensor read. A pH sensor was also tested based on its functionality. When the pH value was low, baking soda was added in the water and when the pH value got high, phosphoric acid would be added. The experiment yielded positive results. The device has a 100% accuracy rate in turning on and off the exhaust fans whenever the temperature sensor detected high or low temperature inside the device and also, the detection of the pH value by the pH sensor for water inside the device.

DISCUSSIONS

This concluded that the device was effective to be used by the local farmers based on the results gathered from the conducted experiment. This device can change the traditional method of farming that can be more economical for farmers.