On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:43:02 -0500, Jim Yanik <jyanik@abuse.gov> wrote:>Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote in >news:2b29n7dm6bbqaojmdsik49esb2u4hu228o@4ax.com: > >> OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... >> >> My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San >> Tan Valley with no source of electric power. >> >> He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the >> egg output. >> >> Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some >> pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a >> 12V car battery. >> >> Thanks in advance. >> >> ...Jim Thompson > >Harbor Freight has a complete solar power system;panel,charger/controller >and battery advertized in their last circular. > >but you can probably do better. > >AND,you don't want to use a CAR L-A battery,they are for intermittent,high >current-draw applications, You want a deep-discharge battery.Good point! Thanks! ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery
Started by ●March 29, 2012
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:59:16 -0400, Spehro Pefhany <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:>On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:15:03 -0700, Jim Thompson ><To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote: > >>OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... >> >>My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San >>Tan Valley with no source of electric power. >> >>He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the >>egg output. >> >>Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some >>pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a >>12V car battery. >> >>Thanks in advance. >> >> ...Jim Thompson > >Check fleabay out.. prices have fallen to $1.30 per peak watt or less, >but charge controller etc. will add to that. >Will do, Thanks! ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
On 3/29/2012 12:59 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:> On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:15:03 -0700, Jim Thompson > <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote: > >> OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... >> >> My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San >> Tan Valley with no source of electric power. >> >> He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the >> egg output. >> >> Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some >> pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a >> 12V car battery. >> >> Thanks in advance. >> >> ...Jim Thompson > > Check fleabay out.. prices have fallen to $1.30 per peak watt or less, > but charge controller etc. will add to that. > >It would be very interesting to see the math on this project. How much increased egg production are we talking about? Do chickens eat more when they lay more? And how does that compare with just adding more chickens? Do you light the whole coop? Or just put a little helmet with an LED on each chicken? I find tricking biology more interesting than brute force electronic technology.
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
On 3/29/2012 1:26 PM, mike wrote:> On 3/29/2012 12:59 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote: >> On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:15:03 -0700, Jim Thompson >> <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote: >> >>> OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... >>> >>> My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San >>> Tan Valley with no source of electric power. >>> >>> He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the >>> egg output. >>> >>> Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some >>> pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a >>> 12V car battery. >> >> Check fleabay out.. prices have fallen to $1.30 per peak watt or less, >> but charge controller etc. will add to that. >> > It would be very interesting to see the math on this project.Agreed.> How much increased egg production are we talking about? > Do chickens eat more when they lay more? > And how does that compare with just adding more chickens?How does egg production affect morbidity? Quality of eggs produced?> Do you light the whole coop?I wonder how that scales. The family of a kid I grew up with had a chicken coop on their property (one of the few families that farmed chickens). That building was easily 24 ft wide, 80 ft long and three stories high. Lighting it "off grid" for any length of time (*minutes*) would require a sizable investment! OTOH, with that many chickens... <shrug>> Or just put a little helmet with an LED on each chicken?<grin>> I find tricking biology > more interesting than brute force electronic technology.Exactly. How much can you get for how *little* you need to invest.
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:26:27 -0700, mike <spamme9@gmail.com> wrote:>On 3/29/2012 12:59 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote: >> On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:15:03 -0700, Jim Thompson >> <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote: >> >>> OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... >>> >>> My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San >>> Tan Valley with no source of electric power. >>> >>> He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the >>> egg output. >>> >>> Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some >>> pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a >>> 12V car battery. >>> >>> Thanks in advance. >>> >>> ...Jim Thompson >> >> Check fleabay out.. prices have fallen to $1.30 per peak watt or less, >> but charge controller etc. will add to that. >> >> >It would be very interesting to see the math on this project. >How much increased egg production are we talking about? >Do chickens eat more when they lay more? >And how does that compare with just adding more chickens? >Do you light the whole coop? Or just put a little helmet >with an LED on each chicken? I find tricking biology >more interesting than brute force electronic technology.Maybe he could shorten the artificial day and trick the chickens into laying more eggs. ;-)
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
The Harbor Freight solar systems is on sale for $149. check Mechanics Ill or Pop Mech for coupon. is 45 watts total max has three solar panels (total 45w) has a really crappy bracket to hold all panels. includes hookups for a deep discharge battery (not included, get at Wal-Mart for around $90.00) a USB device connector (no devices supplied) two 12V fluorescent bulbs that are included, plug both in for two lights. all wiring to hook up components and to the battery. has a cigarette lighter socket. It all works OK but not sure about long term. Unfortunately the power box is only for three panels so adding more solar panels to one box is not an option. Not sure about paralleling two boxes to one battery. Schematic is available. Harbor Freight website has free PDF manual download. I have two systems and have modified the brackets to properly retain the panels. --- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to news@netfront.net ---
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:16:15 -0400, Spehro Pefhany <speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:>On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:26:27 -0700, mike <spamme9@gmail.com> wrote: > >>On 3/29/2012 12:59 PM, Spehro Pefhany wrote: >>> On Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:15:03 -0700, Jim Thompson >>> <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote: >>> >>>> OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... >>>> >>>> My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San >>>> Tan Valley with no source of electric power. >>>> >>>> He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the >>>> egg output. >>>> >>>> Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some >>>> pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a >>>> 12V car battery. >>>> >>>> Thanks in advance. >>>> >>>> ...Jim Thompson >>> >>> Check fleabay out.. prices have fallen to $1.30 per peak watt or less, >>> but charge controller etc. will add to that. >>> >>> >>It would be very interesting to see the math on this project. >>How much increased egg production are we talking about? >>Do chickens eat more when they lay more? >>And how does that compare with just adding more chickens? >>Do you light the whole coop? Or just put a little helmet >>with an LED on each chicken? I find tricking biology >>more interesting than brute force electronic technology. > >Maybe he could shorten the artificial day and trick the chickens into >laying more eggs. ;-)I'll ask for more detail, but, AIUI, chickens seem to do best at egg laying at an approximately 14 hour "day". So we're going to count 10 hours from sunset, turn on the lights, then turn off at dawn (they do better with abrupt "lights-on", than abrupt "lights-off" :) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
On Thursday, March 29, 2012 1:35:53 PM UTC-4, Michael Black wrote:> The initial electrification of farms came with wind power, to charge=20 > batteries to run the radio and maybe power some lighting. All wiped out==20> as cheap electricity was brought via wire by things like the TVA.The farms had a heck of a lot more than lights and a radio to run off elect= ricity. Wind power for electricity production was only popular in the Great= Plains states, for everywhere else it was the Delco battery/ gensets, an e= normously successful business : http://www.doctordelco.com/Dr._Delco/Delco-= Light/Delco-Light.html . Of course wind power was always good for pumping w= ater into cisterns, but that's not electricity production. As long as the OP is on the topic of electricity production for chciken far= m, then it seems a methane genset coupled with a chickensh_t methane produ= ction plant would be the best match.
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
BeeJ wrote:> The Harbor Freight solar systems is > on sale for $149. check Mechanics Ill or Pop Mech for coupon. > is 45 watts total max > has three solar panels (total 45w)Those panels are amorphous silicon, so not very efficient. In other words, they are inexpensive, but they only generate perhaps half as many watts per square meter as fancier (mono- or poly crystalline)/spendier panels. If you have the space, though, they're a good way to go.
Reply by ●March 29, 20122012-03-29
"Jim Thompson" <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote in message news:2b29n7dm6bbqaojmdsik49esb2u4hu228o@4ax.com...> OT: Solar Charging 12V Car Battery... > > My son, Aaron, software engineer turned farmer, has acreage in the San > Tan Valley with no source of electric power. > > He'd like some artificial light for his chicken coop to increase the > egg output. > > Lighting and timers are easy to find off-the-shelf, but I need some > pointers toward finding a good quality solar panel that can charge a > 12V car battery. > > Thanks in advance. > > ...Jim ThompsonVisit alt.energy.homepower And when your ready to buy go to http://www.sunelec.com/ They have the best prices. A few pointers. 1,You need to figure out your battery bank capacity base on your load. 2, find out how long you want the battery bank to last if there is no sun (in days) 3, how many hours a day does your location get (there are charts from NREL http://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html) 4, Don't deep discharge your batteries. Aim for 50% -30% discharge (Big batteries, NO golf cart batteries here) 5, Buss voltage 12, 24 or 48vdc? Panels come in different configurations. 6, Stick with Polycrystalline panels 7, NEC, The system needs to be installed to Code. most of the code pertaining to solar installs came from Wileys Code corner (http://photovoltaics.sandia.gov/docs/John_Wiles_Code_Corner.htm) NEC 2008 had the updates. Check with the local authorities for permits. 8, You'll need a good charge controller (MPPT) and an alternate AC-line charger. 9, If the cost of running Utility power is less than Solar then that is the way to go. Hope that helps. Cheers
