Solar system for powering de-icer?

[Debbie292d]

I have this de-icer, however, I recently moved and do not have electricity at the coop now. I was thinking to set up some kind of solar/battery system (where the battery operates the de-icer and the solar panel keeps the battery charged), but I can't figure out how to do it. Everything I find online assumes a lot more electrical knowledge than I have. (Kind of like some of the coop building articles here where the author shows a super-rough plan and then skips to a finished photo, leaving little clue as to how they built it in between those steps).

I know I need a solar panel, a battery, maybe an inverter? (I dont know if the de-icer is AC or DC), wires to connect it all together. But I have no idea what pieces to use or how to connect it all.

Is anyone aware of a kit that has the necessary pieces to solve this problem? Or has anyone done this before and can you share the parts list that you used?

Thanks!

My hubby is an electrician, yet, we're off-the-grid campers with a huge solar panel, 6 golf cart batteries, an inverter, and a controller. That runs the furnace and everything else but the air conditioner. 15 years ago, it was more costly than now; however, he too like @U_Stormcrow, dug the trench and conduit about 150' to bring power from the pole to the coop.

Solar has its place for sure, but for a coop where you need dependability, I'd not bother. You can buy a Renolgy kit, or another good brand, with everything needed to run this for under $300 at Amazon or Home Depot, etc., but the batteries are going to be costly not to mention the headaches of low or no sun for days that often comes with winter will make it very unreliable.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My hubby is an electrician, yet, we're off-the-grid campers with a huge solar panel, 6 golf cart batteries, an inverter, and a controller. That runs the furnace and everything else but the air conditioner. 15 years ago, it was more costly than now; however, he too like @U_Stormcrow, dug the trench and conduit about 150' to bring power from the pole to the coop.

Solar has its place for sure, but for a coop where you need dependability, I'd not bother. You can buy a Renolgy kit, or another good brand, with everything needed to run this for under $300 at Amazon or Home Depot, etc., but the batteries are going to be costly not to mention the headaches of low or no sun for days that often comes with winter will make it very unreliable.

While I never pulled the trigger and bought in, Renology has consistently appeared near top of the list for reasonably priced reliable solar. I'll give the nod to that brand too.

 

[Chicalady]

So, according to your link, the de-icer pulls 125 watts and uses a standard household (110v ac) plug. 125w / 110v = approx 1.14 amps. Because its A/C, you will need an inverter (not a big one, 1.14 Amp is a relatively small amount, as A/C draws go - the equivalent of, well, a 125w light bulb. The Invertor ALSO uses power (no such thing as a free lunch), which you will need to compensate for. a 300w inverter will be plenty big enough. You should assume a 150w total draw for invertor plus heater. That 3,600 total watts per day in potential power need - almost 1.5 A/hr at 120v

Next you need to know where you are in the world and compute your peak sun hours during the period in which the deicer is likely to be used. That will give you an idea of how many watts of power you can potentially generate per day. Once you know that, you can calculate how many panels you will need. i.e if you have 6.3 hours peak solar, you are talking six panels to completely recharge each day.

then consider how much reserve you will need for when peak solar isn't available. That will determine your minimum battery bank size. Just enough to make it to the next day? second day? Batteries aren't cheap either - particularly as you can't fully discharge a battery and expect it to recover. Don't look at car battteries, they are built for brief, high draw, not constant drain - you want to look for electric golf cart or forklift batteries. If you thought your $600+ in solar panels was pricy, full stop. 100 amp hours of 12v batteries is going to run you $750 or more - and it only provides 1200 watts before its fully discharged, 1/3 of your projected daily need.

When you've done all the math, you will likely decide its not worth it.

I went through the same and it would cost $2,500 to set up solar for a 80watt deicer.

 

[kibbyson]

Keep in mind the de-icer that the OP linked is a thermostatically controlled unit that will not produce a constant draw. I have connected my de-icer to a kill-o-watt meter during a cold stretch where it was constantly below freezing here in Ohio last winter. Unfortunately I don't recall the exact power consumption over 24 hours period but I do remember it was nowhere near what a constant 24 hour draw projection would be.

I won't argue that solar can be prohibitively expensive and a lot of it is typically in the battery.

Get a $20-30 kill-a-watt and plug your de-icer into it. See how much it is actually drawing over a period of time. Take into consideration of course temperature since it may run more if your testing occurs during warmer temperatures.

I can say definitively that $2,500 for a solar setup to keep an 80-watt thermostatically controlled de-icer going is not right. Something went wrong with the calculations there and it was probably assuming a constant 24 hour maximum power draw.

As for the OP I think even a 100w+ de-icer could be run on a couple of 35AH deep cycle batteries with a 80-150w panel setup. That's what I remember roughly estimating for. Granted as pointed out by others it does vary a lot on peak sunlight hours and at least here in Ohio generally our cold comes with heavy cloud and no sun.