The Freckled Farm Soap Company

Tag: solar

  • Solar Powered Barn

    When we decided to put up our barn there were the obvious questions: Where would it go? How large would it need to be? Yada yada yada. Well, after we had answered those questions there was one more. Do we need Electricity? This was a slightly complicated question, but in the end we came up with an answer that works for us… Solar Power.

    Solar 1 Blog

    We are always trying to do things that are going to be sustainable, but cost effective. Our barn is roughly 150 feet from our house. Given what we would need power for out there (a light or two, monitor, maybe a fan?), we decided it wasn’t cost effective to have power run all the way out. So we had it built without it and decided that we would figure it out later. Maybe we would look at solar power sometime in the future.

    Well, as it turned out, the future was sooner than I had thought. Through my old job outside of the house I had come to know the owner of a local solar power store. I happened to be doing some work at his office and I mentioned that I was thinking of putting solar in our barn. I asked him roughly what we would need to put in, mostly out of curiosity. What he told me is that we wouldn’t need nearly as much as I had thought. He ended up pulling together a few items for me and gave me a great deal on them as well. So for around $100 I walked out of there with almost everything I would need to get us started. Even though he gave me a great deal I’m sure you could find comparable prices from online retailers.

    The purchase included small 10-watt solar panel, in-line fuse, charge controller, 12v fluorescent ballast and an exterior light. My original plan was to put a cheap fluorescent hanging light in our barn, and the exterior light out on the front. What I ended up going with instead was an LED light fixture intended for an RV or camper. It should last longer without needing to change bulbs and uses a little less power. I also ended leaving off the exterior light, at least for now. So with the light, and the addition of a light switch and a riding lawnmower battery, we were in business.

    So here is our basic setup. Solar Panel –> Charge Controller –> Fuse –> Tractor Battery –> Light Switch –> LED Light. For the wiring I used some 10-gauge heavy-duty speaker wire that I had leftover from my days of running sound systems for bands. It’s not ideal, but it was free and should be plenty capable of handling the voltage.

    So after it was all done we ended up with a solar-powered barn for a little under $200 dollars. I should have enough capacity to add the exterior light if we ever decide we need it. We don’t end up using the light much unless we get home super late and have to do farm chores in the dark, or during birthing. Honestly the goats or llamas turn it on more than we do. In hindsight I probably should have put the switch where they couldn’t lean or jump on it. For birthing this year we added a 12v power to a wireless intercom we have so that we could monitor the girls while we are in the house. This stayed on the entirety of kidding season without running out of power.

    So there you have it. That’s how you can have a solar powered barn light for less than $200 dollars.Solar 2 Blog

    Solar 4 Blog

    Solar 3 Blog

  • What’s up Wednesday – 3/5

    The girls are so close to having their babies! We are still two weeks from their due dates, but Hillary’s ligaments are disappearing, which is a sign that labor is on it’s way. Although, it doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t reach or exceed her due date. It just lets you know that their bodies are in preparation mode. Tina’s ligaments are still very tight. Monday night the temperatures were in the low single digits and I was convinced with our luck that Hillary would go into labor at the coldest possible time, and we would have baby goats living in our house! Luckily that didn’t happen, but I’m keeping a close eye on her. Hopefully this week’s snow storm is the last, so we don’t have to worry about having babies in the snow anymore. I am really hoping they wait until after this weekend, since we will be at the Augusta show Saturday and Sunday.

    The chicks will be on their way Monday! We are hoping they will get here by Tuesday, but it will more than likely be Wednesday. Since I write these posts on Tuesday night you probably won’t hear anything about the chicks until later in the week or the week after. I promise to include pictures! Breckin is so excited. He is old enough to handle and help with the chicks this time around. Last time he was two and was really only old enough to hold them for a second, and I was so worried that he would put his hands in his mouth before washing them that I made myself a nervous wreck. I’ve lightened up a bit.

    This past weekend wasn’t as productive as the weekend before, but we still got a fair amount done. The chicken coop went up in the pasture, and just as expected the goats spent a good amount of time chewing on the corners. We started working on the solar, but had some questions about the installation, so that project was stalled. Kevin built the new raised beds in the garden, and he finished the walls of the birthing pin. I cleaned up an area in the shed for the chicks and cleaned up the kennel that will be their brooder. At some point this week, when I can get out of the driveway, I need to go pick up the chick food and electrolytes.

    You may have noticed that I missed the Makeover Monday this past Monday. It’s been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to test out the recipe that I did this month. I am working on it now so the post will be going up next Monday! Sorry for the delay.

    So, another productive week down! Here’s hoping for another… and maybe some nice weather with it.

  • What’s up Wednesday 2/25

    Holly molly have we had a busy week. The amazing weather this weekend gave us the perfect opportunity to start getting projects done around the farm.

    We started by constructing the chicken coop we ordered a few weeks back. It didn’t take very long to put together and we are both quite pleased with the design. I will do a post highlighting it soon. We sealed the wood once it was together in hopes that it will last longer. We put it together outside of the pasture because I didn’t want the goats getting ahold of the packaging or messing with us (incessantly) while we were working. I wanted to put it in the pasture on Sunday, but with the second coating of sealant going on that morning I decided that we should wait until next weekend and give the seal a chance to really dry as the goats will likely chew on it for a while when it first goes in.

    Last year we built a kid pen out of pallets and spare wood. Ruth and Sonia lived in it last spring until they were big enough to move in with the big girls and llamas. It worked well for them, but the calk we used to seal the roof didn’t hold up and I was beginning to worry about the cracks between the slats and wind getting through, which would be a problem if we got another snow storm. So, we reinforced the sides with plywood and plan to use the roofing we are buying for the buck’s pen to seal the roof off once and for all. Finally we painted it kid barn red. The same red we plan to paint the buck pen.

    This weekend we also put up the temporary birth pin in the barn. The walls and door are made out of pallets. It ain’t pretty… but it does the job. Good thing it’s not staying up. We may decide to do something more permanent next year, but for now this will do.

    Finally, we got the intercom for the barn. We got this so we could hear what is going on inside the barn at night. We are hoping it will allow us to hear if the girls go into labor at night… so we don’t have to check on them every 10 minutes… although I am sure I still will. Unfortunately, we put it in Monday night and realized that it was messing with Bryce’s baby monitor. We need to do a little research, but at the moment it looks like we are going to have to return it for something that is on a different frequency.

    It’s about 3 weeks until the girls’ due dates. They were so uncomfortable in the warm weather this weekend. While the other animals were laying the sun, enjoying the beautiful weather, they laid in the barn and moaned all weekend. I could have sworn that they were somehow going into labor early, but they were fine once it cooled off again. I am so glad they won’t be going through pregnancy in any sort of real heat.

    The next few days should be as busy as the last week. We plan to put solar up in the barn (only one panel… enough to power a light and maybe a fan), put the chicken coop up in the pasture, and set up the brooder for the chickens coming in two weeks!