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How to set up small system for barn

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Rchel

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I’m trying to set up 100w panel with the battery and charge controller to heat water for my chickens and a light
Do I need a power inverter?
Can I connect the load to the battery without power inverter?
How many loads I can connect with Small system
What type of battery I need to buy?
Thank you
I have so many questions ?
 
I decided to get a 60watt heated bucket and I guess I’ll need the power inverter I want to make as safe as possible I don’t want burn my hens, I got the 100 watt panel and charge controller now I have to figure out what type of power inverter and cables
Any ideas?
Thank you
 

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Rchel said:
I’m trying to set up 100w panel with the battery and charge controller to heat water for my chickens and a light
Do I need a power inverter?
Can I connect the load to the battery without power inverter?
How many loads I can connect with Small system
What type of battery I need to buy?
Thank you
I have so many questions ?
Click to expand...
A hen water heater... I assume you are talking about a deicer... not something to heat the water... right?
We used to use floating heaters in our horse and cow pens in SD, and WA... COOOOOLD WINTERS...
 
Maybe post pics of the waterer you use now... I would think it depends on the temps you see... and where the waterers are sitting... maybe a flat plate under each dispenser with a temp cutoff set around 35F...
 
Supervstech said:
A hen water heater... I assume you are talking about a deicer... not something to heat the water... right?
We used to use floating heaters in our horse and cow pens in SD, and WA... COOOOOLD WINTERS...
Click to expand...
Not deicer is a chicken water bucket that comes with heated bottom only 60 watts i think
 
Supervstech said:
Maybe post pics of the waterer you use now... I would think it depends on the temps you see... and where the waterers are sitting... maybe a flat plate under each dispenser with a temp cutoff set around 35F...
Click to expand...

I live in Canada our winter can get -38C ?
 
This is the bucket
I’m shopping for a power inverter now
I got 100 watt solar panel a MPPT 100A controller
What type of inverter should I get?
Thank you
 

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Rchel said:
I live in Canada our winter can get -38C ?
Click to expand...
Yup, I lived in high altitude Plateau Newell South Dakota for 3 years... minus 40 temps are rotten... especially in high winds... our cattle needed wind breaks, and the waterers needed several floating heaters to provide drinking water...
chickens water stayed in the coop and the concrete floor was heated...
 
Rchel said:
And how do I know how many amps/ hour the appliance needs or consume?
Click to expand...
You can put the device on a watt meter, but in those temps it’ll likely be on 24/7... so 60watts times 24 hours is 1.5 KWh, so ya need a battery that will store that... but the BATTERY needs to be protected from those temps too... in Canada, the solar availability in winter is negligible... what, 3 hours? So your panels need to produce 1.5kwh, plus daytime consumption... 2 KWH to be sure... that’s 675 watts output... and, because cloud cover can limit production, and you need the waterer to ALWAYS be on, I would have a week of battery storage, that’s 10.5KWh just to power the 60 watt heater continuously... converted to 24v Ah... 252Ah 24v battery... or 504Ah at 12v...
 
Supervstech said:
You can put the device on a watt meter, but in those temps it’ll likely be on 24/7... so 60watts times 24 hours is 1.5 KWh, so ya need a battery that will store that... but the BATTERY needs to be protected from those temps too... in Canada, the solar availability in winter is negligible... what, 3 hours? So your panels need to produce 1.5kwh, plus daytime consumption... 2 KWH to be sure... that’s 675 watts output... and, because cloud cover can limit production, and you need the waterer to ALWAYS be on, I would have a week of battery storage, that’s 10.5KWh just to power the 60 watt heater continuously... converted to 24v Ah... 252Ah 24v battery... or 504Ah at 12v...
Click to expand...
And this does not cover inverter losses or battery DOD limits... boost everything 25% to cover those... to be completely safe the solar needs to be double... so 1500 watts solar...
now, under normal conditions, the waterer won’t need 24/7 use, and sunlight production will be better, so this will be certain overkill...
but this is what you will need for definite heater operation.
 
It's a 60 watt heater.

"Farm Innovators' Heated 2-Gallon Poultry Drinker provides chickens with easy access to clean water year-round. The 3 side mounted drip-free and freeze-free nipples accommodate up to 15 chickens. The unique design allows for the bucket to be hung or placed on the ground. A built-in 60 watt heater is thermostatically controlled to work automatically. Top removes for easy filling. "
 
Supervstech said:
You can put the device on a watt meter, but in those temps it’ll likely be on 24/7... so 60watts times 24 hours is 1.5 KWh, so ya need a battery that will store that... but the BATTERY needs to be protected from those temps too... in Canada, the solar availability in winter is negligible... what, 3 hours? So your panels need to produce 1.5kwh, plus daytime consumption... 2 KWH to be sure... that’s 675 watts output... and, because cloud cover can limit production, and you need the waterer to ALWAYS be on, I would have a week of battery storage, that’s 10.5KWh just to power the 60 watt heater continuously... converted to 24v Ah... 252Ah 24v battery... or 504Ah at 12v...
Click to expand...
We have good sun exposure here, Edmonton is usually very sunny in the winter, cold but lots of sun
 
Schlagger said:
It's a 60 watt heater.

"Farm Innovators' Heated 2-Gallon Poultry Drinker provides chickens with easy access to clean water year-round. The 3 side mounted drip-free and freeze-free nipples accommodate up to 15 chickens. The unique design allows for the bucket to be hung or placed on the ground. A built-in 60 watt heater is thermostatically controlled to work automatically. Top removes for easy filling. "
Click to expand...
Schlagger said:
It's a 60 watt heater.

"Farm Innovators' Heated 2-Gallon Poultry Drinker provides chickens with easy access to clean water year-round. The 3 side mounted drip-free and freeze-free nipples accommodate up to 15 chickens. The unique design allows for the bucket to be hung or placed on the ground. A built-in 60 watt heater is thermostatically controlled to work automatically. Top removes for easy filling. "
Click to expand...
Yes that’s the one I’m getting
 

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Rchel said:
We have good sun exposure here, Edmonton is usually very sunny in the winter, cold but lots of sun
Click to expand...
Great, then using the solar calculator you need to calculate the solar hours available, and alter the wattage required to get the 10.5 KWh of sun to keep up the battery bank. If you have the water bucket inside protected from some elements, the runtime might be less... I was working up an average worst case scenario.
 
Likely you can get by with far less, as the heater May heat up to 5C or so, then be off while the water chills to -1 C and back, lowering the KWh needed for the week, plus during the day, solar heating May lower the loads. That’s why having a wattmeter to total the actual usage is important. That heater May only run for 5 or 6 total hours a day. That will dramatically lower the needed storage and solar production.
 
Another question
I have solar panel-charge controller-battery-power inverter
Do I need a battery charger so I can connect it to battery?
Or not?
What’s the benefit of battery charger ?
Thanks
 
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