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