Solar Chicken Coop and Playhouse
I have taken the playhouse off the grid. This weekend I installed a series of 15W PV Panels. The panels feed 60W into a 7amp charge controller which at this time charges a 55AH deep cycle battery which allows a 110v 200watt inverter to pull power from it.
60W from the sun feeding a 55AH battery
Currently I am using this to power on the coop lights at night to lure the chickens into the coop. I’ll also wire up a switch in the playhouse for the kids to turn on/off the lights, a fan to exhaust some of the heat in the playhouse and a series of garden lights.
I found your web site by doing a search of solar powered chicken houses. First of all, that is a VERY nice chicken house you have built. Great job! I am always interested in seeing chicken houses that have solar power in place. My chicken house is off grid, and I am planning to implement solar power. In fact, I ordered the solar panel this week. However, I’m not real good at calculating the amount of solar power need to accomplish what I’d like to do. I have a 7.5 watt aquarium heater that I’d like to use to keep water unfrozen during the winter. Do you think a 20 watt solar panel charging a 12 volt deep cycle battery will be enough to power that heater?
Scott
15 Jan 10 at 6:31 pm