Friendly Aquaponics solar greenhouse plans

[Tim ONeill]

Hi all,

We are finishing up some research specific to solar green house design. I am curious if anyone has purchased plans from Friendly Aquaponics in HI. There seems to be various opinions regarding these folks but has anyone bought the material?

[Rob Torcellini]

I haven't seen their design, but if it's the typical passive solar design, there are tons of free plans for them on the net.....

[Tim ONeill]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure but I dont think this is a typical design. They come from a contractor background and the plan is supposed to be complete cad with all of the detail to support the plan. Most likely I will need an engineer stamp where I am so I need something complete and proven to work as I cant afford to do it twice.

[Kevin Gorham]

Pretty sure Tim (of friendly) was a boat builder previously, not a contractor, but I suppose he could have been both. I have their micro system manual, and the drawings take a little bit of study to figure them out but all the information is there.

[Tim ONeill]

AP, yep I remember reading he was a boat builder. So you have the micro system plans but not the solar greenhouse plans? Was the micro system plans worth the investment or would you go a different route.

[Kevin Gorham]

Whatever one might think of Friendly on a personal level, they have A LOT of experience in aquaponics. They have a ton of good information in their manuals, and they have a little mis/wrong information. If you are just starting out, the micro system manual provides alot of information in one place at a reasonable cost. If you are a DIY kinda guy, I would just build something yourself and ask the kind people of this forum for advice. Cumulatively there is a lot more information here than in any single manual.

As you said in your OP, if you are specifically interested in the solar greenhouse design, buy the book, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

[Tim ONeill]

AP, thank you for the info. I am just trying to do an adequate amount of due diligence before I drop the 500.00 for the information, seems like a lot but if it is accurate and all in one place it will be worth it.

[Kelly Jones]

I took a course from them - as I understand it, Tim had a contracting business in Hawaii that went under when the housing crisis hit, and that's when he & Susanne started Friendly AP - He started doing the boatbuilding when he was in his teens.  Their course was very useful & I've found their AP manual & plans useful - in fact, am building part of my system using their specs now - though I'm not familiar at all with the solar greenhouse plans...

APguy01 said:

Pretty sure Tim (of friendly) was a boat builder previously, not a contractor, but I suppose he could have been both. I have their micro system manual, and the drawings take a little bit of study to figure them out but all the information is there.