Chicken Coop solar backup power

[Darryl Bruffett]

Will, I recently built a chicken coop/run with a 12 volt automatic door opener that lets my girls out and closes them up at night. My other electrical needs are some LED lights to keep my hens laying in the winter months and a NightOwl 4 camera wireless security system. Basically a small amount of electricity usage. I live in College Station, Texas, and want to add some solar backup. Can you advise me? I'm guessing that the battery(s) will cost more than everything else combined. If there was a way I could sell my unused power back to the utility department that would be ideal. Darryl
BTW I enjoy your videos and got your book last week.

 

[Supervstech]

Is everything 12V?
Adding up the wattage of the LED, and, camera, then multiply by hours of runtime...

 

[FloridaSolarGuy]

Man, I love that setup!

 

[Supervstech]

Neato! Your coop is identical to my mothers, and you have added a screened in patio with atrium!
nice!

 

[FloridaSolarGuy]

Neato! Your coop is identical to my mothers, and you have added a screened in patio with atrium!
nice!

Those chickens have no idea how good they got it. Next will come an HDTV with 5-channel surround running of that solar system. Mark my words. They are gonna be some happy cluckers.

 

[FloridaSolarGuy]

How can I see more detailed pics of the equipment used in the solar system? Where's all the batteries, charge controller and specs on the solar panels?

 

[dashdrum]

You should use solar as the primary power source with grid for backup only.

 

[Darryl Bruffett]

I going to get the figures on the wattage to you soon Supervstech. Dashdrum I agree solar as the primary and grid as the back-up. Hope I don't need the grid at all. FloridaSolarGuy I'm working on a YouTube video tour of my coop that I'll pass along when I get it done. I'm looking forward to getting my solar project going!

 

[Darryl Bruffett]

I've got my usage numbers and determined that during a 24 hour period my chicken coop uses .536 kilowatt hours. So my question is what kind of system do I need to install to take my coop off the grid. I'm wanting to use this project to really learn about solar with the hope of someday being able to build a system for my home. If there is a chance that I can make it where I can sell my unusage electricity back to the College Station Utility Company that will be a big bonus not to mention if I have a week of cloudy days that my system can switch back to the grid seamlessly so my clock for my automatic door opener doesn't reset because of the switch. My automatic door is 12V along with some LED lights. My other LED lights are 120V along with the Night Owl security system. I'm ok with installing a 24 or 48 volt system and can spend $4-5K if that will allow me to get the most bang for my buck. While I can put my equipment in a dry location and out of the sun, it will not be in an air conditioned/heated building. I'm all ears and really appreciate the advise and encouragement. Here are some more coop pictures for those that were wanting them.