Solar Light Setup

[OcoeeG]

Has anyone found or made a solar lighting set-up that works. I would like to find something that can be set on a timer to adjust the length of light given. My coop is about 200' from the house and I don't have the money to spend on running that much wire that far. Any help would be great. I am doing some research and will post if I find a suitable solution. I gotta get these girls more light so they start laying.

 

[k0xxx]

We have recently had a large (14x32) portable building placed or our property. I will be installing one of the Harbor Freight 45 watt solar panel set-ups with the two cfl's and a charger for deep cycle batteries. Even though the two cfl's are 12v DC, I'm sure that you could figure a way to add a timer to them if you wanted. You might also use a small inverter to convert to 120v AC, with a timer.

The solar panels and light set is currently $200, but that's cheaper than we could run the wiring to the building.

Just a thought.

 

[juliebee]

I just put a solar light in the coop. The solar panel is screwed to outside of
the coop then the wire runs to the light on the inside. I bought this light at
Big Lots for 10.00 dollars. They sell the same ones in mail order catalogs. Sorry I cant tell you which ones. The light works really well, but doesnt put out very much light. Really just enough to check on the ladies without taking a flashlight. I really dont know how much light is enough to get them to lay more. I just wanted to let you know that it works

 

[sillybirds]

Quote:
Most solar panels are 12 volt DC, so, assuming yours is 12 volts, you'll need to get a 12 volt DC timer. Here are links to a couple examples:
http://www.amazon.com/American-Hunt...e=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1226041135&sr=8-5
http://birdtak.blogspot.com/2007/10/12-volt-programmable-timer-switch.html
http://www.super-feed.com/dctimer.html

 

[Capt. Crusoe]

My neighbor (other side of our woods) has a great solar, “Zeon” bulb stetup in his hen house – 4 bulbs total and very bright. Last summer he was explaining the system to me (he bought online) I did get a peek at his system but did not write down brand names at the time. It consisted of – two deep-cycle batteries being charged by a large solar panel (approximately 30” x 15” on the roof could not tell exact size from ground vantage point or could even be two mounted close together) – there was a small wall-mounted timer, which led to four “Zeon w/cup illumination diffuser backing, lights mounted on the rafters. I did do a cursory search online with no results. It must not of been a kit but would love to put one together as a kit and sell online for all sorts of uses. It is a great system and very bright light!
At the moment we are in a bit of a squabble over a ferret I killed climbing the tree near my coop. I had no idea it was his pet and it was over ¼ mile from his home! I asked to pay or replace the ferret but he would not talk to me. I wish I had never told him I killed the thing but looked like a predator to me.

Good luck on your search and keep us posted if you come up with anything that works. (I may do a little reconnaissance mission to see what I can come up with)

 

[orbirdman]

i am wondering if one of the solar light setups that is used for yard lighting would do the trick. from what i have read you only really need enough light to see newspaper print. i have a small coop that would only need 1 light. to have a timer for the evening would be perfect, but the ? is how to do you fit that inline with a single light set up.

 

[OcoeeG]

Thanks for the replies! Most 12V timers I have seen are like $100 just for the timer. I never thought about using a converter to change the voltage to 120. Great idea. That way I can use my inverter I already have, a cheapie 120V timer and some LED. All they will need is about 4 hours of supplemental light. Now all I need is an affordable solar panel and battery set-up. Thanks.

 

[CedarLake]

I'm using a 12Volt battery and high efficiency high power LEDs. I considered making it solar charged, but realistically it wasn't worth the effort. Easier to just bring the battery inside periodically to recharge it.

Three 1W LEDs in my 4x8 coop is very bright -- probably much brighter than it needs to be and 3 white LEDs match very closely to a 12V battery and are more efficient than fluorescent lights.

 

[OcoeeG]

Alright, I didn't find a solar light set-up but I might have found something even better. Well actually my girlfriend found it. It is a battery operated, outdoor, LED, timer candle thingy. Not sure how else to describe it. It is supposed to look like a candle but it is battery operated LED. 2 D cells are supposed to last up to 4 months.l The best part is that it can be set to turn on at a certain time of day and set to turn off 6 hours later. This will allow us to supplement our chickies light up to the 14 hours we need. Best of all it was $22us after shipping. Here is the link if you want to take a look for yourself.

http://www.batteryoperatedcandles.net/FPC1493-p-outdoor.htm

If we only need enough light to read a paper by I think it just might do the trick. Might make a reflector out of a pie tin or something to get a little more out of it if needed. Or shoot for 20 bucks just buy another one.