For the coop I would see if your batteries are getting fully charged by around 2 or 3 pm. If not add panels. If they are getting fully charged add another battery. A portable space heater can use 1500w. You could add a timer so the heater runs an hour and shuts off an hour. Or on an hour off a half hour. Or get rid of the space heater and go with a couple of infrared bulbs. You might consider a smallsr area for them to roost during cold nights. Less area to heat.

Brad dropping his video during the Superbowl... thug life! Gooood evening from central Florida! Hope everyone has a great night!

If you ever need to extend your fence by the road, a vertical fence-style panel installation might be worth investigating. It's a newly emerging option that's more and more viable with bifacial panels.

I think I would rent a trencher and direct bury 500ft of 10/2 or 8/2 wire from the main house down to the coop. Have backup grid power available during the cold cloudy winter months. Could even have a wireless camera in the coop with temp sensor to check in on the chickens during a blizzard.

U need the big device that holds all the solar panel. Its job is to keep the panels dead centered into the sun. It moves on these hydraulic struts. It can hold up to 18 solar panels or at least ours did. Look into wind energy as well. U get more out of smaller wind turbines than the huge awkward ones. Ground speed, middle of the pack 50’ and so on till 100’. We did ground speed at 7’ and at middle at 50’ and it was amazing. Seriously everything I mentioned sir is not lies. We had em on our ranch since 1997 and the only thing that we needed new of was batteries and computer panels to upgrade everything. Mr. Brown it works like a champ. The electric pole is literally 3/4-1mile from the ranch house so no thanks for line powered. Poles, wire, conductors and everything else was $50k to get em to do it

Brad, are your batteries charged 100% during the day when the sun is out? When you’re running accessories like that you need more batteries storage to be able to keep up with the amperage draw of those heaters if the batteries are charged, then your panels are fine you’ll have enough panels. Add more batteries, solar power and battery packs are a temporary type of deal they’re not meant to run a house heaters, air conditioners. They’re just not meant to do that . If somebody told you they were they steered you in the wrong direction.

Great point about ground prep around the solar panels.

I love how you aucally interact with ur viewers, responding in comments no matter how old the video is.

I would say run power down to the chicken coop and your solar will be for back up. I ran power to my coop and it is so nice having power at the coop. I have a heater in my 50 gallon water tank with a thermostat so it will turn on at a set temp and turn off all in its own. I also have a circulation pump on the water tank to keep the water moving so it doesn’t get stagnant and so it won’t freeze in winter. For eat in the coop I have heat lamps and also just got a heating pad for the wall behind the roosting bars.

I work for a company that manufactures fire trucks. We will do inverters and they do fine for battery chargers and such. But heavy loads will kill the batteries even with the alternator running on a truck. Our load managers will start shutting things down when the batteries reach 11.7 Volts. But if you are pulling a large load on the inverter it will continue to discharge the batteries until it reaches a low voltage point and shuts off. In our case, that would shut off the truck. I suspect your heater pulls some heavy amperage which will drain the batteries relatively quickly. Especially since at night they are not being charged.

Try having a stake in the ground with a candy cane like upper with a chain attached on 3 sides, hanging holding a plate so they can eat off the ground/swing. It will make them eat those greens like a kind trick I believe. I’ve seen this in other people chicken videos.

I ran separate outlets to each room that are on solar. Some things I run 24/7 on solar. I have a backup charger that runs off the grid to charge if the batteries get low, it kicks on automatically. In 5 years I have not had to start my generator. I have cut my electric bill in half. My system had paid for itself part way through the third year. I did all the work myself.

Hey Brad, Coming from a solar user, when I decided to go solar I did a lot of research!! Then i hired a solar engineer. I could go on for hours of what I learned, but I will try and summarize? There are weather maps that show everything, especially the amount of sunlight in all areas of the world,, In my area there is a formula used to figure the size of system needed,, anyway every single month I am sending power back the the utility company for a credit, Yes the startup cost was significant, but I will start making my money back after 10 years, also I have back up generators just in case ,, I can go for 16 days of consumption on cloudy days before the generator starts up,, I love my solar system but not everyone can afford the start up cost,, I get updates on solar and it’s constantly evolving, So maybe some day it will be more affordable????? With regards to your system maybe it’s not large enough for your area????! Check those solar maps in your area Good luck

Thanks for another great video, Brad - very interesting! But then you could talk about manure and it'd still be a fun video. It's you and your family that I enjoy watching as much as I enjoy the content. That's a nice thing to highlight some of your comments. Your comment section is always positive and upbeat - a pleasure to read thru! I know guineas are great for bug and tick control, but I don't think I could get past the noise they make! The next most irritating sound is a bunch of geese, haha. I'm not really a "bird person", but I do like the chickens. Maybe because they don't fly much, they serve a purpose (eggs!!!) and they're less noisy. I remember going to the river park where my grandma lived and feeding the geese. I went a few times but then quit because the things always chased me and when you are 5 or 6 years old the geese were almost as tall as me, haha, especially when they realized I had food! Anyways, going to keep comment short and sweet (for me, as opposed to my normal novel). Hope you are doing well. Heather🇨🇦

I have chickens , live in northern Illinois , gets negative temps in the winter. I have never used any heaters in my coop. I have never lost a chicken to the cold .. insulated the coop and eliminate all the drafts , they do fine. I figure , they didn’t have solar panels or heat lamps 100 years ago and their chickens survived.

Cool to get an update on the solar. As for emergency heat in the chicken coop, instead of a generator, you could get a 9000 BTU Mr. Buddy Heater with the hose kit that hooks it to a 20-pound propane tank, and if you kept the coop around 50 degrees with it, It will probably run well over a week on a 20-pound tank. There's a guy who uses one in his camper that ran it for two days with 2 carbon monoxide sensors set up near it and they never went off. Just a thought, It would be much easier, quieter, and cheaper than running a generator.

Trench a circuit to the coop and add a charger to keep happy when cloudy if you want to use solar the cloudy days at night.. or add an auto start generator. My view. Can chickens live underground?? In winter?? Or insulated coop? Also, I agree with the comment below. It looks like a cheapo inverter and charger that probably is waisting power.

For the chicken coop in winter you can combine heating and lighting by installing a HPS(High Pressure Sodium) light fixture. Not only does it act as a light but it also gives off a good amount of heat so you don’t have to run a heater or for those rare days when it’s -15° you don’t have to run a heater as long. Plus HPS lights have a wider light spectrum that mimics natural sunlight and is healthier for the chickens in winter months when vitamin D is harder to get from the sun.

You need more batteries for longer use when it cold and very little sun for the chicken coop

A friend of mine has the Holl top of his house with solar. And he does not get paid for the execs power. From the city like they say Thay who'd do. And i got him to put medal roof on before they installed the solar panels. If you have a shingled roof and it goes bad you will have to remove the soler panel's before you put a new roof on.

Here in Denmark its not recommended to produce loads of solar power at home, cause you have to pay to get the excess power out on the grid.

I am running 6volt golf cart battery's. They are a constant duty battery.

Great info to have for solar systems. Thanks @Brad !! Stay blessed

Get the plastic wrap for the windows to add insulation and keep the heat in

Informative video Brad. Thanks for posting.

45 gallon drum full of water with a fish tank heater in it will last all night and run less. The first winter is always disappointing to solar owners and unless you have consistent power outages use the battery every night to help on ROI.

I installed 1600 watts of solar panels on the roof of our 5th wheel, along with 2 12v 200ah LifePO4 batteries & complete solar/invertor system. The 400ah of batteries I have work great for everything for 10+ hours, unless we use a high amp draw appliance such as the 15k btu ac unit. Then my battery bank only lasts about 3 hrs when running the AC. My point being depending on the watt draw of your heat source it may be using up your batteries faster that they can be charged by your existing panels. I would suggest doing an energy audit on what the chicken coop uses in a day. My guess is you would want to add more to your battery bank. I hope this helps you out a little bit in coming up with a solution for the coop in the winter or other hi power demand days. My wife & I always enjoy watching your videos. Always, informative & entertaining content! One thing I just noticed by pausing & zooming in on your battery bank is that although the batteries are connected in parallel correctly it appears that your inverter & charge controller are connected to positive & negative on only the battery closest to the door. In order to use all of the capacity of paralleled batteries the positive from your invertor & solar charge controller need to be on one battery & the negative leads of those need to be on the other battery. That way then your system is charging & discharging each battery equally. The way it is currently wired it is not using or charging both batteries to their full potential. One other suggestion.... Consider adding a smart shunt/battery monitor to your existing batteries, so you can monitor the state of charge & remaining amp hours.

Thanks for the info and showing us the ways! Great videos!

You need to add more batteries for longer periods of use in the coop

Issue with solar panels, batteries, and running a heater for true chicken coop. Heaters are typically 1500 watts, and that’ll drain a 2 kWH battery is an hour and a half easily, if the heater is running continuously. Only solution is more panels and more batteries. If you were to run a 1500 watt heater for 6 hours, that would require a fully charged 10kWH battery. I know it sounds ridiculous, but your only option is to put in a small pellet stove. The solar and batteries could generate enough power to run the auger and blower.

Pretty darn expensive? All relative though? I use hay ? Very warm ? Little scratchy though? Oh few bugs ? Just throw the old hay out the window for the chickens ( I don’t hv any) and hv the new hay in within a couple hours Brad ! Oh? No smoking or cooking in the house either! What do you think?

the solar panels send electricity to the solar charge controller(mppt) and the mppt charge controller sends power to the battery. the battery is 12v and the inverter turns that into 120v for use by the load appliance...

t the end. ‘Hey Mary, I have started preparing our Valentines dinner. Scrambled eggs.’ lol

Brad you can get generators that run on any fuel now propane natural gas diesel so on. I would have gotten 6 batteries gives you a buffer as a rule of thumb you want 48 hours if you use 400 in a 24 hour period Amp hours you'd want 6 or 700 Amp hours

Very good info on the solar panels

Hey Brad,I don't know anything about solar, kinda scrambles my brain . I sure hope there is someone who can help you get it straighten out👍 . Thanks for the lesson. The more I listen, the more I absorb. JO JO IN VT 💞

I think the point about batteries is really on point. As battery development goes up though, I agree there is definitely room for better advancement. Maybe the panels though will also go up and perhaps get smaller?

You should look into a propane generator that you can run off of your large lp tank. I keep a small one that will run 30hrs with 1 grill tank for just in case scenarios.

I have two friends that have solar on their houses. One had it installed when they were doing a remodel and the other one bought a 2 year old house that already had the system. It feeds back enough to the power company that their electric bills are usually only around $15 a month and they said that is mainly because of some taxes that are added to the bill. 🎺

TOTALLY AGREE Brad. A backup to the backup is the way to go. Then backup the backups backup......😎😎😎

Very interesting video Brad🎉 and awesome as always 🎉❤ x

Great video keep us posted on how the solar performs ! 👍🎺

Lol Brad. I'm always here. No comment. Just watching and learning. I don't know solar YET

Brad showed up out of the wood works no pun intended a year ago and had been on his a game since day 1

Still waiting Ralph's feeding of apple fritters....... Thank you for another video.

Very smart to put it a short distance away from the house instead of on the roof. 👍👍🎺🎺

It's a double-edged sword....are you keeping the area around batteries insulated and warmer somehow. The cold is degrading the efficiency of batteries. Also, marine batteries may have been a better option in regards to longevity. You said car batteries, are they open or closed cell. What about lithium? I would love to upgrade my motorhome with the closed lithium batteries. The problem with open cell is that they need ongoing maintenance. I bought the flow-rite system, which allows me to keep them top off with distilled water without over filling and creating a mess. The problem when you use and charge open cells is the evaporation and the bulk charging you need to do to keep the cells "cleaned up," so to speak. I haven't tried it yet, but some of the old timers recommend putting a few drops of mineral oil in the cells to prevent evaporation during recharging. I know this is long-winded, but those are a few things to consider. The flow-rite works great for me in that it prevents acid over flow during the filling up of cells, which in the motorhome creates acid corresion and other issues in battery bay. My batteries are 6 years old and still going strong. Just a note I'm not an expert and just am giving you what I've read and learned in my travels with my motorhome.

Omg. Rich people have no clue. $60000 on something that might save a few hundred bucks a year. Notice the driveway full of combustion powered engines. Some people just have way to much money. For the same cost you could invest in hydro or thermal energy.

Ive got 2 100w Panels 60A charge controller and 1 12v 100AMP Life Po battery with a DC/DC charger from main engine of van, solar definitely has it pros and cons but has came along way. Excited to see what the next 10 years bring. I'm curious what your using for heat in the coop? If it's electric it's gotta go. I run a vevor diesel heater in my insulated van during winter, down to -40c without windchill here in Alberta, works like a dream, you could have a large fuel tank inside coop that would let it run pretty much indefinitely. I run a small 5 litre that'll last 1-2 days with fan on lowest setting. They also come with thermostats/timers like your household furnace allowing you to either set it to come on/off at a certain time or set desired ambient temperature and let it cycle on and off automatically. The only draw back are the glow plugs that cycle on and off during start up and shut down, they do draw a considerable amount of amp hours over time but I'm sure with your setup you could easily make things work. Honestly most guys just let them run on low for days on end as weather permits, this essentially draws very little from your system as glow plugs remain off, i doubt it would even touch your bank of 2 Life Po 4 batteries overnight. Its recommended after considerable amount of hours on low to set fan speed to 5 (2nd highest setting) allowing any build up of soot/carbon to burn off. They are diesel after all and like to be worked. Im sure you could keep an eye on things. Vevor is a great brand, fairly cheap on Amazon. Hope you find a solution 🤟🖤 any questions, shoot!

Simple Living Alaska runs A Chicken coupe and The Heater keeps it at 45* and they have I think 4 Batteries! They live Totally off grid! His name is Eric!

maybe get some sheep to graze around your solar grid? thats what some larger solar farms do. the sheep just graze the grass while leaving the cables etc alone.

Did they install either a heat detector or smoke detector near your lithium ion batteries in the garage ? Also don't store anything around those batteries because they do get warm.

We have solar panels but no battery's were I live and work. Battery's would be so helpful since we often get power outages living out of town.

Permanent gen batt low gen starts byself propane with big tank is best

Good video and thank you much.

My wife grounds me also, says I watch too much KZfaq. I really thought solar would be much more prevalent by now. I would love to know what you think your break even point will be. Will it truly pay for itself when you factor in upkeep, repairs and battery replacement.

I dunno man I’m thinking a whole house natural gas or propane generator that runs the furnaces and ac is a better option

Not having to pay an electricity bill is always a plus don’t see how it could be a bad idea

Need to move generator away from under eaves while running

You could add wind.

you need to a trial run so you know what to expect

Solar panels work great here in Australia. We dont get that white stuff where im from though 😂

Great video Brad!! So informative and entertaining..Way to go Brad..Keep up the great work brother....

The eggs aren't ruined yet, hurry and make some scrambled eggs ! 👍🎺

Buy a Little Diesel Heater !

Bifacial panels make a pretty decent difference compared to standard panels

Very informative video. I’m still bouncing ideas around about building or remodeling what I’m in here in Telluride. You’re a pro Brad. Keep up the good work !! 🏔️

What's the name of the company that sold you the solar setup? I'm in Nebraska and want to build a house in a couple years completely off grid.

Get a Milti fuel generator so you do not have to fill it up at the house. If it gets bad

Nice. How long would it take the generator to charge 1 battery to 100%?

I don't understand why they didn't program the inverter to use the batteries at night. Night is when most homes use a lot of electricity. I run on solar all day and then get through the night with 20.4kw of batteries. Sun comes up and the batteties charge up by around 11am in the winter and 1 pm in the summer. It's a waste to have spent 11 grand on your batteries and you're still buting electricity at night

Brad - how long is the array at the beginning of this video and how many kilowatt is mounted on the array? I don't see what kind of panel (manufacturer and wattage) you designed into your array. Great video!!

Appreciate it

Interesting but would a hail storm destroy the panels

What was the price of this setup? Do you sell excess power to the grid?

Ok wow you spent alot. I would of done everything except the hook up and saved alot. I also probably wouldnt of used the most expensive battery but im cheap.

Hey Brad how did you get gas out to this house city line? Or do you have some tank someplace?

Brad, you get 30% back in a tax credit but the whole system is a write off correct? Since you are a builder and this is part of your business since your learning and you can also bring people over and show them how it all works, is that correct?

Did you do the math with regards to your annual electric bill at your other house compared to how much you spent on your solar setup to find the break-even point ? 🤔🎺

back up invaliable

Brad ur chicken coop solar is not efficient that inverter draws .. Thats why it drains... U will need more batteries to make up that inverter.. We been off grid for 9 years and still licking ass... Keep it up brother..

So you noticed chickens are meat eaters and need fatty protein to be really healthy. The actual healthier option is beef.

Great job brad