Autonomous Solar-Based Aquaponics: Towards Agricultural Sustainability in Lebanon and the Region

With the exponential growth that affected the world population during the past two centuries, huge demand for food resulted, and traditional practices could not meet such overwhelming amounts. Newly developed techniques became a must to secure the food need, and aquaponics being one of these technologies, rose as a unique system that mimics the natural lifecycle. Aquaponics systems are still being enhanced to facilitate their use and increase their efficiency. This paper introduces an autonomous solar-based aquaponics system that utilized solar energy to meet water temperature demands of the fish and plants within the system. A pilot system is also presented and results are shown and discussed, illustrating the added efficiency and benefits such integration offers to aquaponics. The experimental results obtained during the past 6 months show that this system offers 30% productivity increase upon 60% saving in required space for this planting and 40% water savings.