Solar Power in the Chicken House

[Scott]

Quote:
This particular set cost about $200. I'll post pics soon.

 

[cutlass1972]

Hey Scott, any progress? I got my panel mounted, my fans mounted, and all wired up. For now I just needed to get it all together before the really hot weather gets started, I wired the panel straight to the fans. I figure when the sun shines enough to be hot the fans should run. next step will be to wire in my solar charger and my battery, then the light sensing automatic coop door open / closer.

 

[equusvilla]

I will be staring construction on our coop next week. We have a solar light (using a small solar panel to power it) included in our plans...but am very interested in finding out more so we could use a fan (South Texas..hot hot hot) and maybe an additional lamp in the winter.

 

[cutlass1972]

hey scott, I got one of those little heat strips I recommended to you from mcmaster carr. I have played with it a bit and I think it is going to work. May have to put it on a little timer circuit that only allows it to run for a certain period of time then turn off then come back on after a while. The reason I say this is that I dont think this little bitty heat strip is going to bring my 3gallon waterer up to the temperature required to trip the thermostat and turn it off. I think that it will keep the water from freezing (or at least thaw an area) but we don't want them running full throttle 24/7 so if it cycled on and off it would at least keep the water drinkable but not drain our batteries too badly.

My solar fans have been in place all summer, and work GREAT! They dont exactly "cool" the coop, but I can sat that they do evacuate the heat and keep it from collecting in the coop. I can step in the coop when it is in direct sunlight and it feels like I am standing in the shade verses inside of an oven. I really need to work in the solar charger, batteries, and a thermostat to control the fans. As I have it right now the fans just run when there is enough sun to generate enough electricity to drive them, I have noticed in the evenings the chickens sit up on their perches with their wings raised and panting a little (body heat build up inside the coop after sundown). I suspect that if the fans woudl kick on for a few mins every now and then it would evacuate most of the body heat at least until the outside temperature drops a bit.

I also picked up a few solar powered LED motion flood lights at harbor freight for $19.99 each. They work great for what they are. They do not come on like a halogen light but they do illuminate well enought to walk around the coop in the dark and see raccoons when they come near.

have you gotten any more done on your solar power?

 

[Scott]

Quote:
Glad to hear your solar fans are working well. I tell ya what, I've got the solar panel and heat strip, but haven't done much with them. They are still sitting in the closet. I'll get around to it eventually. If you find a good timer or thermostat, let me know. I think the heat strip will work well, but like you mentioned, it doesnt need to be on constantly.

 

[gallinamama]

Hi Scott, I am new at this... My coop is about 350 ft from my house along with a spare garage. neither has electricity... I was looking into solar heat and lights for the coop and garage... because the expense of running electricity out back.... Is it more affordable to use solar panels? Is it better to go to a solar website versus exam: Home depot? do they even carry such things? My husband wasn't too keen on the chicken thing and does not want to spend a fortune on electricity...So???

 

[cutlass1972]

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Basically, while solar technology is improving, it is not really ready for main stream. The only time when solar (electricity) is an option is when you have no other option. It is very expensive to buy enough panels to produce very little electricity. By the time they have paid for themselves they are at the theoretical end of life. The only reason to go with solar is if 1 like scott here you have no other choice, 2 just an alternative power enthusiast and want to do it for the fun of it, or 3 want to do it for the sake of the environment and carbon based fuel consumption and resulting emissions into the enviornment (this is debated as there are toxic chemicals used in the production of solar panels)

 

[patandchickens]

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If you pick your breed(s) intelligently and design your coop well, you do not necessarily need electricity at all, though you will be having to carry water out there a couple times a day in winter.

The whole active-solar thing is IMHO basically a hobby, not an efficient/economical way of accomplishing a really-necessary goal. Passive solar (and the other design features that should go with it) is rather higher on the practicality axis, but still, beyond a certain point it really slips into hobby too

Have you seen my 'cold coop' page (link in sig below) which discusses ways of dealing with winter that do NOT involve electricity?

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[cutlass1972]

Quote:
If you pick your breed(s) intelligently and design your coop well, you do not necessarily need electricity at all, though you will be having to carry water out there a couple times a day in winter.

The whole active-solar thing is IMHO basically a hobby, not an efficient/economical way of accomplishing a really-necessary goal. Passive solar (and the other design features that should go with it) is rather higher on the practicality axis, but still, beyond a certain point it really slips into hobby too

Have you seen my 'cold coop' page (link in sig below) which discusses ways of dealing with winter that do NOT involve electricity?

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

I agree totally. As far as passive solar, if you dont want to go all out and build a passive solar heater, you could simply paint your coop a flat dark color. I have toyed with the idea of painting a piece of luon flat black and just screwing it to the south facing wall of my coop in the winter time.

 

[cutlass1972]

one little thing I will throw out here is that part of my rational for doing what I am doing is that if the power goes out like it did here last year for 3 weeks. I have a source of power to do some little things with (charge cell phones, jump cars, power laptops, run some lights in the house via extension cord form an inverter in the coop / power plant). Another other added benefit is that if the power does go out my coop keeps on functioning.

But once again in reality it is just a fun project that I enjoy.