Solar

[kucalafive]

Just a thought.
We don’t have electricity at our small coop. My ask is to have a solar panel system that allows for a 2 plug outlet option to run a light as needed on a timer. The second plug-in would be for possible heat lamp or small fan when needed.
Is this scenario even viable? We have zero experience with solar.

 

[Candiru09]

Yeah you can definitely use little solar panels on your coop.
We have 2 of them on our coop; one to power cameras set up in the coop and run, and one to power the automatic door to the coop.
I'm pretty sure we just bought ours off of amazon.

 

[DParker75089]

Yeah you can definitely use little solar panels on your coop.
We have 2 of them on our coop; one to power cameras set up in the coop and run, and one to power the automatic door to the coop.
I'm pretty sure we just bought ours off of amazon.

I'll be doing something very similar to our new coop shortly, but it should be noted that @kuclafive's need for an AC outlet (for running AC devices like a heater) adds significantly to the cost and complexity (not complex in absolutely terms, but as compared to a simpler DC-only system) of a small solar setup for a coop. It requires the addition of a DC/AC inverter and, because of the much larger energy load placed on the system by something like a heater, a more substantial battery, or bank of batteries, and larger/more solar panel(s) to keep the battery(s) charged. Putting such a system together effectively, economically and...most important...safely requires that you know what you're doing. It's not difficult knowledge to acquire. Indeed, YouTube and the internet in general are positively awash in good resources for that information. But it does require an investment in time and effort if you're going to DIY it.