Solar powered Coop

[pfewless]

To figure out how many watts you need use this formula

Refrigeration Unit 125 Watts X 6 Hours = 750 Watt Hours
Lamp 50 Watt X 6 Hours = 300 Watt Hours
Heat source 65 Watt X 4 Hours =260 Watt Hours

Total Watt Hours Needed: 1310 Watt Hours

Multiply the number of battery amp hours by 12 Volts. This gives you the total watt hours. You don't want to drain the battery bank by more than 60% on a regular basis so X the number of total watt hours by 60% and this gives you the usable watt hours.

Example: A Battery Bank Of 200ah X 12 Volts =2400 Total Watt hours
Remember You don't want to discharge the batteries more than about 60% on a regular basis.

2400 Watt Hours X 60% = 1440 Usable Watt Hours. So, you need a 200ah battery bank to run those items all together.
Yes you can add more deep cycle Marine Batteries and yes you can add more solar panels to buld better systems.

The sun charges your solar panel which recharges your battery which in turn gives you your power. Also needed an amp control charger, solar cables with male and female connecters, a power inverter with digital power meter, smart surge control, voltage and overload protection, short circuit protection, and thermal cutoff. So yes we need all the right parts.

The battery will last between 5-8 years depending on how deeply you discharge it on a regular basis. If the batteries will not be connected to the solar panels for extended periods, a battery maintainer/trickle charger should be used to keep the batteries in good condition.

Hope fully this will help you figure out what you need. After all my research I have determined that for me a first time solar user I am buying a ready made kit that will meet my needs. LOL

 

[Trefoil]

I just completed a small solar panel setup. I use a 100 watt panel with a 35AH battery. It is used to power an automatic door, wireless camera, and LED lights. I also plan to add a venting fan in the near future.

When I click on your link I get from photobucket "sorry the link you requested doesn't exist".

 

[pfewless]

If you do not need a lot of power this might be a good set up for the beginner.

http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-68751-8527.html

It is what we are going to look at since we have a coupon to get it for even less. It will meet our needs as we only use rope light on a timer and a water heater in the winter.

We may however add another 100w solar panel that we build ourselves from an ebay kit ( we want to learn how) and an additional battery eventually. I already have a larger power power inverter and a 200 ah deep cycle marine battery.

 

[jason29252]

 


When I click on your link I get from photobucket "sorry the link you requested doesn't exist".

Fixed the image link. Battery was fully charged after 3 hours this morning from very weak sunlight, from about 6am to 9am. Definitely have a lot more battery reserve. Will be adding an 8" radiator fan this weekend for improved ventilation. Here is a picture of the electrical inside the coop. 

Most of the wiring and relays are from my automatic door and lights.

 

[ChaoSS]

This sounds like a bad idea to me, let me explain really quickly here.


Solar may be a good idea if your coop is far from your house and you don't want to run power to it. However, if you can run power, or already have power run, and just want to save money, solar for just the coop isn't a good idea.

The time when you need power is during the winter, at least mostly. You need to power batteries, and you need to be able to provide power for a few days when it gets really cold and cloudy. You need a system that will recharge those batteries pretty quickly, and without the greatest amount of sun. Consider that you may have a day or two or three of virtually no sun, with tons of cloud cover, snow, etc, then a day or two of weak sun, followed by more cloud cover for a few days. This sort of thing happens. This means you need a fairly big system to guarantee that you will have the power needed during the times when you really need the power.

Now, I'm not talking about a system the size of a house system, but it will be larger than you think.

Now, we go to the summer time. Now, you really don't need power. You don't need lights, or heat, or anything other than maybe your electric fence, which should not be drawing any real power. So no you have all of this production going to waste. You have these solar panels just sitting there, not gaining you anything.

If you hook solar up on your house, you use it year round. You have the AC in the summer, the lights and possibly heat in the winter. You may not always be producing efficiently, but most solar set ups are set up to avoid wasting too much, and you tie back into the system to sell back power you aren't using.

When you are running a stand alone system, there is inefficiency built into the system, that's just one of the draw backs, and you are compounding that by using it on a coop.


If you want solar, get a small grid tie system, and put the panels on your house instead of on your coop, and leave the coop connected to your house power. That way you are always getting the advantage of the system you put in, and when you don't get any power from the system, your chickens don't have frozen water.

 

[jason29252]

This sounds like a bad idea to me, let me explain really quickly here.


Solar may be a good idea if your coop is far from your house and you don't want to run power to it. However, if you can run power, or already have power run, and just want to save money, solar for just the coop isn't a good idea.

The time when you need power is during the winter, at least mostly. You need to power batteries, and you need to be able to provide power for a few days when it gets really cold and cloudy. You need a system that will recharge those batteries pretty quickly, and without the greatest amount of sun. Consider that you may have a day or two or three of virtually no sun, with tons of cloud cover, snow, etc, then a day or two of weak sun, followed by more cloud cover for a few days. This sort of thing happens. This means you need a fairly big system to guarantee that you will have the power needed during the times when you really need the power.

Now, I'm not talking about a system the size of a house system, but it will be larger than you think.

Now, we go to the summer time. Now, you really don't need power. You don't need lights, or heat, or anything other than maybe your electric fence, which should not be drawing any real power. So no you have all of this production going to waste. You have these solar panels just sitting there, not gaining you anything.

If you hook solar up on your house, you use it year round. You have the AC in the summer, the lights and possibly heat in the winter. You may not always be producing efficiently, but most solar set ups are set up to avoid wasting too much, and you tie back into the system to sell back power you aren't using.

When you are running a stand alone system, there is inefficiency built into the system, that's just one of the draw backs, and you are compounding that by using it on a coop.


If you want solar, get a small grid tie system, and put the panels on your house instead of on your coop, and leave the coop connected to your house power. That way you are always getting the advantage of the system you put in, and when you don't get any power from the system, your chickens don't have frozen water.

Agree with most of what you're saying, but I want to add that it depends on where you are geographically. In southern california, we get good sunlight pretty much year round. We get cloud/rain maybe 5% of the time. Heating is not necessary in the winter but cooling is important in the summer. In terms of inefficiencies, you can eliminate some of that by running DC appliances. Main positive for me in not having to run a long electricals from the house to the coop, which is a hassle, eye sore, and requires permits.

 

[ChaoSS]

Agree with most of what you're saying, but I want to add that it depends on where you are geographically. In southern california, we get good sunlight pretty much year round. We get cloud/rain maybe 5% of the time. Heating is not necessary in the winter but cooling is important in the summer. In terms of inefficiencies, you can eliminate some of that by running DC appliances.  Main positive for me in not having to run a long electricals from the house to the coop, which is a hassle, eye sore, and requires permits. 

Are you really running ac off of solar? How much did that setup run you?

I just ran misters this last summer. The chickens seemed to like that just fine, much cheaper than trying to cool with fans and or a.c. units.

 

[Chickenguy9]

Hey, thanks for the responses. My coop is quite large Roughly 18x 24 feet with 4 rooms for holding birds, a work area and a storage room, plus an attic. It does not currently house any chickens. (just found out I need a permit.) Which is why this year I want to get it prepared and ready for the birds I will be getting next year. I wasnt very clear in my orginal post about the heat, I dont intend to use actual heaters, just 1-3 heat lamps depending if i have a brooder going and how cold it will get, I live in Maine and some winters can get pretty brutal. I have plenty of roof space for solar panels,I just havnt decided What size system will be appropriate and how large it will need to be. Or if I want a kit, or to make it myself. Each room currently has those long florescent bulbs but I will probably change it over to LED. Given the size of the Coop I want to have plenty of power. I hear you guys like pictures


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Sorry the coop was very dirty at the time these were taken.