Solar panel

[jerryb]

Suppose that you want to run a 100 watt bulb in your brooder, and that you have tested the bulb and know it provides enough heat when needed.

then the size of solar panels needed can be computed as follows:

100 watts x 24 hours a day = 2400 watt-hours

being you are in Chattanooga the US DOE tells us that you will have, on average, 4.37 hours of solar production per day. so 2400 watt-hours / 4.37 hours = 553 watts of capacity needed on the roof to supply a brooder non-stop. as noted, you will need batteries of the proper capacity too.

At current retail, installed pricing that will run you $6,000 or so, as a DIY probably half of that, If you make panels out of broken parts as suggested ??

All you really need to do for a brooder, a light bulb or two and maybe a heated water can is run one strand of 12-2 w/ground UF style cable which should cost around a dollar a foot to buy. If you then dig your own trench that's most of the labor. make sure you consult your local building inspector to get the proper depth to bury the wire.

cheers
Jerry

 

[geoff40]

Jerry, you should really learn more about the things you make comments about before you make them. You are implying he has only 4 some odd hours a day that his cell can generate electricity, which is a ridiculous idea, he lives in Tennessee, not Barrow Alaska. You obviously do not comprehend solar production hours and what the term means. Furthermore, the cells I referred to have small to tiny edge chips, they re not "broken" as you put it, they still produce electricity perfectly well. Lastly, he will spend far less than 3k making his own panel. If you bothered looking in to it at all, did a little homework, you would quickly find out how wrong you are.
Usually I'll just let comments as arrogant as yours alone, but yours doesn't deserve to be left alone.

 

[TDM]

Quote:
I think Jerry is correct.

 

[workinnanie]

My DH suggests moving the coop closer to the house or putting the brooder in the garage.......just saying.......

 

[SowdersHomestead]

Thanks for all your input guys. I have the wire to run to the building. Underground isn't an option due to the ground and a small field that it would cross. I was going to get a couple poles from one of my customers and drape it. Solar power is one thing that I've been wanting to learn more about and experiment with and this project I guess is small enough to start with. I found plans online how to put it all together. Now I just need to find out how much discarded or refurbished cells cost.

 

[SowdersHomestead]

Quote:
Not with a couple hundred CX's. The smell is awful.

 

[hemet dennis]

Quote:
Not with a couple hundred CX's. The smell is awful.

^

 

[workinnanie]

Quote:
Not with a couple hundred CX's. The smell is awful.

^

That is funny! Guess I think smaller!

 

[Dingo]

You can find solar cells fairly cheap on sites like ebay. I got enough to make a 4w panel for $11. You can find kits that include basically everything you'd need except the frame and the soldering iron, they usually run .50c per watt. I have seen some go for as much as $5 per watt though.
According to this site ( http://www.sunrisesunset.com/calendar.asp ) the Chattenooga, TN area gets about 10 hours of daylight during the month of December.

 

[rufus]

http://www.cwsmarketing.com/picts/cbp/GOLongbeach/index.html

Check out this US Customs auction. Each of these things has a solar cell to run it. They are selling five pallets of these solar powered pump gizmos. I would salvage the solar and junk the rest. If you buy it, better have a fork lift and truck handy. They are at Sunny Freight in Houston. Good Luck!

Rufus