She's Alive!

Today I finally got the chance to sit down and spend some time working on the electrical system. I'd been waiting on the delivery of the battery, another LED spotlight and some MR16 sockets that fit the LED spotlights.

After a couple of hours of configuring and testing, I'm happy to report that everything works as expected. Now I just need to finish up the construction of the SHH so I can determine the final wiring layout and placement of all the controls; should be pretty sweet once it's all together (also weatherproof and chicken proof). Below are some images and descriptions of the different components.

Top left is the mains power timer that has been modified to run in a DC system (this way I can have a very detailed lighting schedule for the hens, to keep their photoperiod around 16hrs/day, thereby keeping them laying during the dark days of winter).  It's connected to the little circuit board which regulates Voltage so I don't blow out the LED's. The 3 LED's all have different spectra: one is a bright white 6000K, another is 2700K and the one in the middle is 3000K. You can see the difference in the images below.

Here's the battery I picked out. It's obviously not a Trojan or Hawker (industrial deep cycle, $$$) but it's still a good compromise for the price and should last 5 years if well taken care of (room temperature and never allowed to discharge more than 40%). Specs: 12V, 35Amphours, Sealed Lead Acid (SLA). According to my calculations, this battery and the PV panel I'll be using should be completely adequate to power the SHH, even with 5 consecutive days of cloudy weather.

Here's the 6000K, really bright, especially for the meager 3.4 Watts that it consumes. LEDs are the wave of the future, I'm convinced.

Here's the 2700K, much warmer in appearance, (LEDs don't heat up like other bulbs) and super bright too.

Here's the 3000K, bright yet warm, a good color for the SHH and most likely the lamp I'll go with. I really think just one of these lamps will be more than enough.

Here's the balance of the interior conditioning system. Two 12V "muffin" fans and a differential controller. The larger fan will act as an exhaust fan that only comes on if the interior space reaches 25C. The smaller fan will be placed in the register of the Solar Thermal Air Heater and only come on when the heated air is substantially greater than the interior air. My hope is to keep the hens warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

I would like to thank Keith at REUK for building the customized controllers and for having such an informative website! Check it out:Renewable Energy United Kingdom

Weekend, What Weekend?!?

Well apparently the weekend has passed? Who would have known? For the past 3 days (nights too) I've been working on the Solar Hen House (SHH) don't tell anyone about it, it's top secret. Progress has been slow, but things are starting to come together.

I started with the construction of the trailer floor, walls and ceiling. Though some of you may be thinking "what's so hard about putting together a couple of small-scale walls?"  well, these are a little different than your average stud wall. These are actually homemade, Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs) and they require a few extra steps (materials and money).

I also spent a few hours at Lowes picking up more supplies (electrical, caulk, paint, knobs, hinges, etc...) and put in an online order for a 12V-deep-cycle-35Amp-hour-Sealed-Lead-Acid-Battery and some MR16 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) light sockets to round out the Photo Voltaic (PV) system. I hope to have it all up and running by next week.

Here are some photos of my progress, sorry about the blurry images, they where captured on my computer's camera:

Let's get this party started

Painting the solar air heater's absorption plate, high-temp.black

A pile of materials will hopefully turn into a prototype

45 deg. angle cut

3 sheets of 3/4" Blueboard + wood sheathing = R13

slowly starting to take shape

The basic form is complete, so now it's time to add: end-walls, doors, nest box, vents, windows, solar panels, metal roofing, paint, electrical system, bells and whistles and then install it onto the trailer. More next week! 

Round Two

Why do I think it's important to move towards a more sustainable model when it comes to egg production in the U.S.? Here's the beginning of my argument.

According to: http://www.uspoultry.org/economic_data/     
U.S. Value of Egg Production Up 6 Percent
Value of all egg production in 2010 was $6.52 billion, up 6 percent from $6.17 billion in 2009. Egg production totaled 91.4 billion eggs, up 1 percent from 90.5 billion eggs produced in 2009.

That is an inconceivable amount of eggs. What disheartens me most about these figures, is that most of the above named eggs were produced in factory farming systems (see below), where the welfare of the hens, the land and the farm laborers are most certainly overlooked. Pure and simple: It's all about the bottom line of the big producers. Even the farmers don't get a fair deal (more on this next week).

Generally Recognized As Safe, hmm...  Irradiated, wow a few things to ponder over.