Newbie looking for some advice on solar powered coops

[sals_chicks]

Hi All - I'm a brand new (and way too excited) chicken keeper who isn't even keeping chickens yet - they come in May. But we are building our coop and run now, and are considering options for electricity. I don't know much about solar power, but want to learn. We will need electricity for extra light, heat (during sub zero days, so occasionally) and heated waterers,fans as needed in the summer, and maybe an automatic coop door/a few extra fun gadgets. Our coop is going to be 4'x8' and we are only keeping 6 chickens to start, but likely not more than 10 as that is what our town allows. There are tons of solar kits out there that I can look at, but I have no idea what sort of wattage I will need. Can anyone offer advice or tell me what you have and how it's working for you? I would also like to use the panels as a shade source over part of the run if that is an option.

Thanks in advance! I am learning so much here!!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
How far from your house are you building the coop?

 

[N F C]

Hi, thanks for joining! I've never checked into solar myself, but if you do a search of articles on the coops built by other members you may find some information: chicken-coops.12

 

[sals_chicks]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
How far from your house are you building the coop?

Placement is not final yet (building the coop in our garage at the moment) but will likely be only about 50 ft from the house. We know we can easily run electricity, and that option is also on the table for sure. But tossing a little extra $ at it to be more eco-friendly and also potentially providing a shade option is worth it to us if it would work!

 

[DobieLover]

a shade option

??

I would just run a circuit out there. It's much easier and more reliable. Look into putting solar panels on your house. The federal tax credits are running at 26% of the total cost of installation and many states will give a tax credit as well. NYS is offering another 25%. And the vast majority of states have a tax exemption for the installation of renewable energy improvements on your house so you won't have to worry about your property taxes going up, offsetting any financial benefits from supplementing with solar.

 

[janiedoe]

Hello, welcome to BYC!

 

[Dr Evy]

Welcome to BYC. We’re so glad you joined!!

 

[sals_chicks]

??

I would just run a circuit out there. It's much easier and more reliable. Look into putting solar panels on your house. The federal tax credits are running at 26% of the total cost of installation and many states will give a tax credit as well. NYS is offering another 25%. And the vast majority of states have a tax exemption for the installation of renewable energy improvements on your house so you won't have to worry about your property taxes going up, offsetting any financial benefits from supplementing with solar.

Thanks @DobieLover - just looking to see if anyone else is doing something similar!

 

[Isadora]

Such thing as way too excited.
Welcome to BYC!

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your plans. And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska!