Avid_living
Songster
Whoa * I hope you are all set for now. I can't afford to have a line put out to my coop but I am not running anything in the actual coop. I'm in southern NH and our town limits DIY solar to 50 watt panels max without a permit.
My coop is about 150 feet away as well. A partially roofed run (4x8) and wind saver station (walls up on the run 3/4 up) with a solar charge controller *$15*, $40-$60 Lithium (no acid) battery (20Ah), DC timer ($5), Globe LED string lights ($12), and two panels [25w $30, 20w $22].
So - $100 - $150 - You don't need both panels right now, nor do you need the 20ah battery. 20 Amp Hour means it runs 20 hours of power at 1amp with a 12v battery. So, 20 - 12 v hours. I started with one panel, one controller, and 7AH battery - Only used for my camera but realized I needed more than 7AH.
My camera (Wyze) and the LED lights take up 0.6 AH. This means that from 2am to 7am is 5 hours and 5x0.6 = 3AH. The camera alone is 0.2AH. so another 3.8 AH. In total - I use 6.8 amp hours daily. A 20AH battery will never deplete halfway if you have panels attached. The two panels are pulling a charge regeneration to what I have used overnight even with the limited sun. November is the least # of sun hours in NH {https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-Hampshire/sunshine-by-month.php}.
My next step is to get an inverter to power a seedling warmer pad that comes on during the day for the waterer.
lights are great - Leghorn comes out right when the lights in the run turn on. Camera catches everything and if we sell; I'm not selling extra electrical that someone else won't appreciate.
My coop is about 150 feet away as well. A partially roofed run (4x8) and wind saver station (walls up on the run 3/4 up) with a solar charge controller *$15*, $40-$60 Lithium (no acid) battery (20Ah), DC timer ($5), Globe LED string lights ($12), and two panels [25w $30, 20w $22].
So - $100 - $150 - You don't need both panels right now, nor do you need the 20ah battery. 20 Amp Hour means it runs 20 hours of power at 1amp with a 12v battery. So, 20 - 12 v hours. I started with one panel, one controller, and 7AH battery - Only used for my camera but realized I needed more than 7AH.
My camera (Wyze) and the LED lights take up 0.6 AH. This means that from 2am to 7am is 5 hours and 5x0.6 = 3AH. The camera alone is 0.2AH. so another 3.8 AH. In total - I use 6.8 amp hours daily. A 20AH battery will never deplete halfway if you have panels attached. The two panels are pulling a charge regeneration to what I have used overnight even with the limited sun. November is the least # of sun hours in NH {https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-Hampshire/sunshine-by-month.php}.
My next step is to get an inverter to power a seedling warmer pad that comes on during the day for the waterer.
lights are great - Leghorn comes out right when the lights in the run turn on. Camera catches everything and if we sell; I'm not selling extra electrical that someone else won't appreciate.
