Colorado

[Latestarter]

For those dealing with night time pests, I found this link completely by accident and plan on building something similar myself. This link is version 1.0, but this person has several other updated/upgraded videos with even better builds. Check it out

 

[Minchi]

Poz.... The little ones don't like apples and when the big ones saw the little ones not eating the apples they deiced they didn't like them either. Tried egg today, no matter how much they want to act like they don't like it I knew they could not turn up there nose at egg but still only ate half the batch. Spoiled brats.

 

[trsturself]

Well we finally finished the move.

We have a TON of stuff to unpack but at least we are in our new home.


The girls are enjoying their new home too. The weeds grew up quite a bit from the last time we looked at it until we moved in. I was happy to see they had something to keep them busy and run around in.
Luckily it's pretty secure because yesterday morning I watched a fox saunter through the back pasture.

Definitely no free ranging for them unless I'm supervising with a gun in my hand!

 

[samsr]

Solar coop. I am going to try and write up what I did, with Pictures. It really is quite a simple set up. Here we go. First, collect the parts for the system.
24 volt DC, 230 watt solar panel from craigslist the individual from Salida posting on Colorado springs and Denver. $190.00
Charge controller, bought it from the windynation web site $40.00
30 feet of 10 gauge solar panel wiring purchased from Ebay $14.00
power inverter, 24 volt DC to 110 volt ac found on craigslist $50.00
My original inverter was a 12 volt one from ebay for $11.00
2 12 volt lead acid batteries (for a car) I already had. mine were from a semi truck.
10 gauge stranded copper wire. I already had
wire ends, ring terminal. I already had

I do not have any pictures of just the solar panel itself.
To get started, I mounted the solar panel to the roof of the shed by making some L brackets into Z brackets, These are commonly used to connect the panel to the roof and can be purchased if you chose to. I just cut a piece of angle steel and made them.
There are two wire connected to the back of all solar panels. One is marked with a + this is the positive wire and one with a - this is the negative wire. These wires have a special end on them that is waterproof. This is why I purchased the extra solar panel wiring. I cut this 30 foot piece of wiring in half to use as two 15 foot extensions as this wiring came with the ends already on it to connect to the wire ends on the panel. I ran these wires into the shed and to where I have he charge controller mounted.

Do not hook the panel to the charge controller at this time!!!!!!!!!!!! Battery connections MUST be done first or you risk burning up the charge controller.
Mount the charge controller at about eye level, so that you can read it easily. Find a spot for the batteries that is close. I would recommend at a minimum of two batteries for both a 12 volt system and a 24 volt system.
I chose the 24 volt system because that was the panel that I had found. The guy in Salida also sells 12 volt panels. but these are only 100 watt panels and I wanted the extra watts without purchasing another panel. either system is just as easy to hook up.
I placed a plastic boot holder under my two batteries to protect the shed floor from battery acid which will come out of the batteries over time.
To make my 12 volt batteries into a 2 volt battery, I simply connected the positive terminal on one battery to the negative on the other. Like this picture. Do not hook the other side of the battery like this!!!!!!!!!
I now consider this one big battery with the positive and negative terminals on one side.


The other side of the batteries will get hooked to the charge controller. Measure the distance to the charge controller from the other side of the batteries that have not been hooked to anything. Either purchase 10 gauge copper wires the correct length or make them as I did. You will need ring terminals for the ends of the wires that Are large enough to attach to the batteries. You will be hooking the positive side of the battery + to the positive side of the charge controller and the negative side of the battery - to the negative side of the charge controller. Like in this picture You can see the picture of the battery and the + and - symbols. This is where you make the connection. You will need to strip the insulation from the end of the wire in order to make the connections. A Phillips screwdriver will be needed to make these connections tight.
At this point the charge controller will come to life and the LCD display will go through a self check and display the voltage that is in your battery or batteries. Mine read 24.5 volts on initial start up. Alll charge controllers do not have a screen. ome just have lights. It really depends on how much you are willing to spend. Thy can get very expensive with all kinds of gadgets on them.
Now it is time to hook up the two wires from the panel. Find the positive wire and hook up to the + sigh right next to the picture that looks like a solar panel and then hook up the negative- to the negative terminal and tighten the connection. The system should now be producing power and storing it in the batteries (as long as he sun is out).
Different charge controllers can do different things. My controller will also control a 24 volt load, whether that be a light, a heat lamp or whatever else I would like to connect to it that is 24 volts. Those connections are the ones that are empty in the above picture. you can also control this load with the built in timer function. This could come in handy if you would like to keep the light on an extra two or three hours during the winter to get the girls to lay.

The only thing left to do is hook up the power inverter and start using some of the power that you are producing. My inverter came with clips to hook up to the positive and negative terminals on the batteries. I hooked mine up for 24 volts as it is a 24 volt power inverter. see the picture. They are placed on the same terminals of the batteries that are connected to the charge controller.

These wires take the power to the inverter where it is converted from direct current or DC power to alternating current or AC power. Mount you inverter or place it on a shelf that is within reach. You will plug you A/C devices into this for your lights, heater, water heater, or brooder light. You need to make sure that all these items will not over load your inverter. Add up all the watts that you will be using and purchase an inverter that can handle at least that many watts.
On my system I have 4 10 watt LED motion lights. Two 23 watt incandescent bulbs for interior lights, a 75 watt panel heater and a 45 watt water hater for a total of 183 watts. I doubt I will ever run all this at the same time but it is nice to know that I can. My inverter, now, is 900 watts. It just happen to be a good deal on craigslist.
Now turn the switch on the inverter to the on position and plug your items in. I wired my shed when I built it, So I just hooked my sheds wiring to the inverter. You may have to plug items in the inverter or plug in a power strip to the inverter and use it that way. Either way, you can now enjoy the power from the sun to operate your chicken coop.
I am sure I left some things out and would help anyone here with questions or help on site if you are close enough. I really enjoyed getting my coop hooked up with a solar panel and power system. Just remember all these items do not have to be purchase all together. They can be sourced from different places, at different times and then assembled as a hole.
Even with the two batteries on my system, I do not have enough stored power to go through a winters night with everything I have on. the batteries would only last two hours. All batteries have a cca rating and a reserve capacity. My reserve capacity for both batteries together is 370 amp hours. I would be draining about 183 per hour for a total of two hours. The panel heater and the water heater are the power hogs. This is why I would like the grid tie inverter.
All this information and WAY more can be found all over the internet. I found youtube to be most helpful when I was getting started.
I hpe all this make at least some sense. it is getting a little late. LOL. if you have questions, just ask.

 

[maggiemo]

Wow samsr, thanks for this. I hope everyone adds to your reputation for taking the time to post this.
Did you post this in the 'coop' section too? I think this should be a sticky in the 'coop-run-design' section here.

 

[Minchi]

Well we finally finished the move.

We have a TON of stuff to unpack but at least we are in our new home.


The girls are enjoying their new home too. The weeds grew up quite a bit from the last time we looked at it until we moved in. I was happy to see they had something to keep them busy and run around in.
Luckily it's pretty secure because yesterday morning I watched a fox saunter through the back pasture.

Definitely no free ranging for them unless I'm supervising with a gun in my hand!

Look like a nice new home, Congratulations!

 

[gretabee]

Congrats on the new home, trsturself!

 

[alebuela]

Well we finally finished the move. e We have a TON of stuff to unpack but at least we are in our new home. The girls are enjoying their new home too. The weeds grew up quite a bit from the last time we looked at it until we moved in. I was happy to see they had something to keep them busy and run around in. Luckily it's pretty secure because yesterday morning I watched a fox saunter through the back pasture. Definitely no free ranging for them unless I'm supervising with a gun in my hand!

It looks gorgeous out there! Congratulations on your successful move.

 

[suncatcher]

Well we finally finished the move.

We have a TON of stuff to unpack but at least we are in our new home.


The girls are enjoying their new home too. The weeds grew up quite a bit from the last time we looked at it until we moved in. I was happy to see they had something to keep them busy and run around in.
Luckily it's pretty secure because yesterday morning I watched a fox saunter through the back pasture.

Definitely no free ranging for them unless I'm supervising with a gun in my hand!

Congrats on your move!! Foxes may move on now that you are living there, dogs barking, and milling around will help too.

 

[katie5668]

Congratulations on your new home I hope you are very happy there. I grew up in the Elizabeth area & loved it!!

Yep we had a lil black footed fox about this AM as well. They are such beautiful animals. I will work hard to keep my birds safe without having to harm to another creature!!