Solar incubator??

[v.cyr]

could anyone help me find info on a passive solar incubator... I remember reading an article on it once, but my google-fu is weak, and I can't seem to find anything on it now... IIRC, it was basicly a sand filled wooden box with a glass top(it was covered with a heavy blanket at night)... I seem to remember something about it being developed by some charitable organisation in africa, but don't quote me... some folks on another forum were talking about incubation without electricity, and I wanted to bring this up, but I cant find the site to link too..

 

[quintinp]

could anyone help me find info on a passive solar incubator... I remember reading an article on it once, but my google-fu is weak, and I can't seem to find anything on it now... IIRC, it was basicly a sand filled wooden box with a glass top(it was covered with a heavy blanket at night)... I seem to remember something about it being developed by some charitable organisation in africa, but don't quote me... some folks on another forum were talking about incubation without electricity, and I wanted to bring this up, but I cant find the site to link too..

Well, I didn't know about the no electricity incubator, but I know that there are 75 watt solar panels that you can purchase. (Expensive)

You could use that to power a 75 watt bulb, and wire a thermostat to the bulb?!


I have wondered about solar incubators though too.

I know that there are readily available lamp oil incubators that you can purchase. You can also use a brick oven, and put the eggs in it, and continuously pile warm manure under the brick oven, just don't let the eggs get in contact with the wet manure. GROSS!

 

[Bullitt]

could anyone help me find info on a passive solar incubator... I remember reading an article on it once, but my google-fu is weak, and I can't seem to find anything on it now... IIRC, it was basicly a sand filled wooden box with a glass top(it was covered with a heavy blanket at night)... I seem to remember something about it being developed by some charitable organisation in africa, but don't quote me... some folks on another forum were talking about incubation without electricity, and I wanted to bring this up, but I cant find the site to link too..

It sounds interesting. I am curious to find out how the temperature would be maintained. An egg incubator needs to stay within a couple of degrees of the optimal temperature. I think that would be difficult with this passive solar incubator.

If a solar panel was used, a charge controller, a battery, and a 12-volt light bulb would also be needed, or an inverter and a regular light bulb could be used. It takes a lot of electricity to keep say a 100-watt light on 24 hours a day. The solar panel only produces full power when there is direct sunlight. So I think you would need maybe a 300-watt solar panel and deep cycle batteries to power the light bulb 24 hours a day.

 

[tkalito]

This is not as dificult as it saund. You need to know how to built a solar water heater (bach heater, flat collector or parabolic trhoug)
the heated water can be move by thermosifonig to a very well insulated water tank located no less then 12 inches above the solar water heater. the temperature inside the incubatar could be control by a wafer thermostat levers to open vents in the top part of the incubator to let heat scape. Hope this help. I am working on one now. I will post more information later on.