Solar powered artificial breeding and hatching system of African catfish in Dumangas, Iloilo

Abstract

A solar-powered hatchery, combined with microcontrollers for water monitoring and automation, offers several advantages in African Catfish Farming. This study aimed to design, install, test, and evaluate a solar-powered artificial breeding and hatching system of African catfish in Dumangas, Iloilo. The system consists of a 500W solar panel, a 100AH battery, a 12V water pump, a solar charge controller, a 5W LED light bulb, a 12V aerator, and two Arduinos for the sensors. The system was tested in three trials with a duration of 7 days per trial and an interval of 1 day per trial. The percentage difference between the hatching rate of the traditional and the system was 48.68 percent. The hatching rate difference between traditional and the system shows a 48.68%measurement. The results demonstrated that the system increased the hatching rate by 48.68 percent. Accumulated fingerlings reached 22,243 under the system while the traditional production generated 7,677 fingerlings. The assessment of annual investment return included multiplying the complete fry output from the system by one peso. The return on investment from the solar-powered system exceeded traditional system earnings by 14,566 pesos. Its careful design specifications enable the system to recover its initial investment cost of 42,579 pesos in 1.91 years while still producing high costs of operation for breeding and hatching purposes.