Solar fence

gerryirl · 02-11-2017 11:54pm #1

Just wondering have ye got solar fencing or even just battery fencing.I am in the process of fencing off ground to sow trees for GLAS and it would an ordeal to get power to the wire from my existing mains fence as its in bad ground away from the fence. Is the power any use out of them or how do ye find them. Its not going to be a temporary job. L'd be leaving it there. I'm fencing off .9 of an acre with 2 strands

Farmer · 03-11-2017 1:46pm

The problem with any electric fence in an isolated location is that a fault can develop at any time and, unless you're going to be walking by the unit fairly regularly, I think you'd have more peace of mind with a couple of strands of barb.

Having said that, I have a solar panel with a charge controller and leisure battery feeding a Wolseley "Mosquito" fencer ( a brilliant wee fencer) on a remote spot like you're describing, without issues for years, but the fencer is near the road and easy to keep an eye on. You'd need to be alot more fussy about keeping the line clear, especially with a two strand setup, than with your existing mains. Sometimes, with the distraction of other jobs, this could get forgotten about until the cows are whipping up your newly planted saplings!

Limestone Cowboy · 03-11-2017 2:16pm

gerryirl wrote: »

Just wondering have ye got solar fencing or even just battery fencing.I am in the process of fencing off ground to sow trees for GLAS and it would an ordeal to get power to the wire from my existing mains fence as its in bad ground away from the fence. Is the power any use out of them or how do ye find them. Its not going to be a temporary job. L'd be leaving it there. I'm fencing off .9 of an acre with 2 strands

Have a lacme one with about 5 years and it's a great job, shock like a mains out of it and never gave a bit of bother.

gerryirl · 03-11-2017 8:11pm

thanks for the replies folks. I have one of them detectors that if the fence drops below 1200 volt it will flash and you see it flashing miles away so I could get one for it too and Id be able to keep an eye on it and hope I dont go down some morning and find all the cattle in the new plantation

AdrianII · 03-11-2017 9:56pm

Im at the same. Does it not have to be two strands of barb wire?

20silkcut · 04-11-2017 10:14am

Some miserable bollocks lifted a battery fencer on me the night before last. Cattle were grazing in a field beside a main road thankfully they didn’t wander. Some real **** out there to take a fencer and not give a toss about the consequences which could have been disastrous.

gerryirl · 04-11-2017 5:22pm

20silkcut wrote: »

Some miserable bollocks lifted a battery fencer on me the night before last. Cattle were grazing in a field beside a main road thankfully they didn’t wander. Some real **** out there to take a fencer and not give a toss about the consequences which could have been disastrous.

its shocking , wouldn't you love to have caught them at it. stretch of road where my home place is is bad spot crashes. one lad crashed brought 3 row of wire and plenty of stakes along the N5 on another mans field. Got the car out and left. luckily the dopey bo11ox left his number plate after him.It didnt end well for him

kevmyyster · 25-05-2018 6:35pm

folks how would these solar ones work in winter time???

TooOldBoots · 02-06-2020 9:34pm

Bumbing an old thread here

I need to set up a solar fencer, no power at this bit of an out farm, only about 4 hectares in total but would like to run an electric fence around the boundary and 1 divide through it. All in about 1200meters of fence.
Anyone DIY it with success?, I have a 12v energiser that runs ff a car battery but it would run down the battery within a week, thinking of getting a solar panel + charge controller. Maybe I'd be better off buying new?

blue5000 · 02-06-2020 10:17pm

Doing something like that here too T, no controller though. Swap old car battery with another one when fencer goes weak, bring home the battery and put it on charge. Our charger is a cheap didlaldi one so if the battery is very run down it won't charge it. Got around that by parallel wiring another old tractor battery to it. The tractor battery is a long (heavy) one so I leave it beside the charger all the time. I think it was Neks on here who gave us that tip, thanks;).

AFAIK without a charge controller the solar panel drains the battery when it's dark. Fencer we have is fairly high power, 6.7 on the tester with a fresh battery. Let us know what charge controller you get and how it goes. I see them on ebay for around 15 quid.

Zimmerframe · 08-06-2020 3:22pm

I have a DIY one and I would only recommend DIY ones, well provided you are kinda handy.
The shop sold solar fencers usually have a small joule output, so then they can couple it with a small solar panel.

The laws of physics are simple, if you want decent power out it's gonna need decent power in.

I have a Horizon 3.0 J fencer which would give a lot of mains fencers a run for their money.

Stored energy - 4.2 Joules.
Output energy - 3.0 Joules.
Fence voltage max - 12,000v.
Fence voltage at 500ohms - 6,000v.
Current consumption - 500mA.

I have a charge controller and I also fitted a gsm modem for switching the fence on/off remotely and can send it a text to see did I remember to put it on. The modem uses as much power as the fencer.

So 500ma for fencer and say same for modem = 1 amp.
Large 115 ah battery wouldn't power it for 5 days.

With 50 watt solar panel fitted, I switched it ON in late April last year, and took it away for storage first week of December still working perect and untouched in that time.

TooOldBoots · 08-06-2020 3:45pm

Going down a similar line myself. I got a "new"ish panel today. Its 18V 50W. I had it out on the footpath direct sun to see it working and it was outputting 19.6V and 2.4A
I was thinking of going to a 100W panel, that way I could also run a PTZ camera too.

Current equipment is the
50w 18V panel
Solar charge controller
2 Old Tractor batteries

On order from ebay: 12V Electric fence

Solar panel

Charge controller

emaherx · 08-06-2020 4:07pm

Zimmerframe wrote: »

I have a DIY one and I would only recommend DIY ones, well provided you are kinda handy.
The shop sold solar fencers usually have a small joule output, so then they can couple it with a small solar panel.

The laws of physics are simple, if you want decent power out it's gonna need decent power in.

I have a Horizon 3.0 J fencer which would give a lot of mains fencers a run for their money.

Stored energy - 4.2 Joules.
Output energy - 3.0 Joules.
Fence voltage max - 12,000v.
Fence voltage at 500ohms - 6,000v.
Current consumption - 500mA.

I have a charge controller and I also fitted a gsm modem for switching the fence on/off remotely and can send it a text to see did I remember to put it on. The modem uses as much power as the fencer.

So 500ma for fencer and say same for modem = 1 amp.
Large 115 ah battery wouldn't power it for 5 days.

With 50 watt solar panel fitted, I switched it ON in late April last year, and took it away for storage first week of December still working perect and untouched in that time.

Nothing wrong with your DIY setup but not all shop bought ones are lacking in power although most for sale in Ireland are huge money compared to a DIY Job or what's available elsewhere.

I have this one but they do up to 7.6J
https://www.electric-fence.co.uk/voss-farming-set-12w-solarsystem-box-12v-green-energy-2872.html

I also have a DIY Job, with panel and charge controller but it runs shed lights in a couple of stables also. As a matter of interest what GSM device are you using?

I also have a 9V panel running a strip grazer. It will run the unit during daylight hours but dosen't charge the battery.

TooOldBoots · 08-06-2020 4:25pm

emaherx wrote: »

I have this one but they do up to 7.6J
https://www.electric-fence.co.uk/voss-farming-set-12w-solarsystem-box-12v-green-energy-2872.html

Nice looking piece of kit

emaherx · 08-06-2020 4:31pm

TooOldBoots wrote: »

Nice looking piece of kit

If you have the 12v unit already they sell the enclosure and panel separate.

TooOldBoots · 08-06-2020 5:09pm

I'm going to get the 100w larger solar panel so I'll end up building the enclosure myself. The main reason is to allow me to power more than the electric fence.
The 100w panel is 1031mm X 674mm so this will make the roof of the enclosure.
I've plenty time to be tinkering away at it, my main issue is the batteries. How well do car/tractor batteries operate under these conditions?

emaherx · 08-06-2020 5:44pm

TooOldBoots wrote: »

I'm going to get the 100w larger solar panel so I'll end up building the enclosure myself. The main reason is to allow me to power more than the electric fence.
The 100w panel is 1031mm X 674mm so this will make the roof of the enclosure.
I've plenty time to be tinkering away at it, my main issue is the batteries. How well do car/tractor batteries operate under these conditions?

Yea, we've one running off a 100W panel to provide power to fence and for lighting in a shed across the road from main farmyard.

Car/Tractor batteries are not a great choice for solar. Deep cycle battery also called leisure battery or caravan battery.

djmc · 08-06-2020 9:19pm

I have lacme secur 500 and 50w panel with the last 5 years and am happy enough with it plenty of power wrote a bit about it here https://blackfieldfarm.com/best-solar-powered-fence-chargers/

Dickie10 · 08-06-2020 9:49pm

i got a Pel one about 6 or 7 years ago wrks well, i have it wound a well i pump water to cattle so very tiny distance. the gallagher reads thats its throwing out 8.2Kv ! that would knock the socks off you

Zimmerframe · 08-06-2020 11:37pm

emaherx wrote: »

Car/Tractor batteries are not a great choice for solar. Deep cycle battery also called leisure battery.

Absolutely, bite the bullet and get a decent leisure battery and be done with it for at least 5 years.

blue5000 wrote: »

AFAIK without a charge controller the solar panel drains the battery when it's dark

Kinda m8, a diode would fix that if not already fitted. The main purpose of the controller is to protect the battery during strong sunlight, when your 12 volt panel is outputting 20 v to your battery.

emaherx wrote: »

not all shop bought ones are lacking in power although most for sale in Ireland are huge money compared to a DIY Job or what's available elsewhere.

No m8, I should have made myself clearer, I meant, the all in 1 units, like this
https://www.agridirect.ie/product/integrated-solar-fencer--pe702s

the ones with separate panels, batteries, controllers etc are fine, they really are DIY done by someone else.

and can be up to anything you wanna pay for.

emaherx wrote: »

As a matter of interest what GSM device are you using?
.

cheap and cheerful gsm gate opener (see pic), from Amazon/Ebay about 25 euros, I think, a lifesaver. It's almost free to use, no charges for using just dial and fence goes off, dial again fence goes on, so all you need is a minimum topup to keep the sim card alive, so about a tenner a year. If you have gone home and not certain, did you put it on, you can text for status (standard text charge).

A lot of people here and elsewhere mention the "power" of the fence in terms of voltage. ie. 6 kv or 8 kv, this is just voltage, the power of your fence is in joules.

A few pics of my quick install, there was an old "sleeper" in the field from a gatepost, so it got used.

Quick and nasty carpentry, will do a "posh" version some day.

the guts

emaherx · 08-06-2020 11:58pm

Zimmerframe wrote: »

No m8, I should have made myself clearer, I meant, the all in 1 units, like this
https://www.agridirect.ie/product/integrated-solar-fencer--pe702s

They are shocking money for what they are.

Zimmerframe wrote: »

A lot of people here and elsewhere mention the "power" of the fence in terms of voltage. ie. 6 kv or 8 kv, this is just voltage, the power of your fence is in joules.

The voltage is also important, but joules will determine how long the fence can be. There's little point in buying a 10 joule fencer for a one acre field. likewise regardless of joules fencer is under spec'd use if it can't produce at least 3,000V at the furthest point from it on the fence. (Assuming adequate earthing etc.)

Zimmerframe wrote: »

A few pics of my quick install, there was an old "sleeper" in the field from a gatepost, so it got used.

Quick and nasty carpentry, will do a "posh" version some day.

the guts

Nothing nasty about that setup, practical and utilitarian.

Zimmerframe · 09-06-2020 12:02am

This is the fence, I would like to have got rather than the one I used, but I couldn't justify the cost.
It's got the same footprint, but more power and the gsm/gps built in.

So amongst other useful functions, if your phone goes off, you can immediately arrange a welcome party for the dude, with your fence under his arm.

https://www.agrisellex.co.uk/products/ranger-a70gps?variant=7934591336476

Zimmerframe · 09-06-2020 12:13am

emaherx wrote: »

The voltage is also important,

I know m8, I used to work in 220 kv sub stations for a living.
There was usually a long length of wire coming from them, but a bit high up for the cattle to reach.

:D

emaherx · 09-06-2020 12:14am

Zimmerframe wrote: »

This is the fence, I would like to have got rather than the one I used, but I couldn't justify the cost.
It's got the same footprint, but more power and the gsm/gps built in.

So amongst other useful functions, if your phone goes off, you can immediately arrange a welcome party for the dude, with your fence under his arm.

https://www.agrisellex.co.uk/products/ranger-a70gps?variant=7934591336476

The GPS tracking and battery monitoring/alert features of that unit are interesting.

emaherx · 09-06-2020 12:15am

Zimmerframe wrote: »

I know m8, I used to work in 220 kv sub stations for a living.
There was usually a long length of wire coming from them, but a bit high up for the cattle to reach.

:D

Current might be a little high too

Zimmerframe · 09-06-2020 12:34am

emaherx wrote: »

The GPS tracking and battery monitoring/alert features of that unit are interesting.

Yes it's a cool unit, but the price is a bit high.

Re. the joules /volts discussion, to quote one of the biggest and certainly most expensive energiser manufacturers.

Voltage merely represents a difference of potential between two electrical points and is only one aspect of overall power. The Joule rating is a true measure of an energizers stored energy or true power

emaherx · 09-06-2020 8:36am

Zimmerframe wrote: »

Yes it's a cool unit, but the price is a bit high.

Re. the joules /volts discussion, to quote one of the biggest and certainly most expensive energiser manufacturers.

Voltage merely represents a difference of potential between two electrical points and is only one aspect of overall power. The Joule rating is a true measure of an energizers stored energy or true power

Not arguing against the importance of joules but it's the potential difference of the fence and the ground that gives the zap, which is why testers measure voltage, it's a good test of a fence at any particular point along it.

TooOldBoots · 09-06-2020 8:54am

djmc wrote: »

I have lacme secur 500 and 50w panel with the last 5 years and am happy enough with it plenty of power wrote a bit about it here https://blackfieldfarm.com/best-solar-powered-fence-chargers/

Thats was a good read! I liked the use of the old fridge

blue5000 · 09-06-2020 12:12pm

Here's a rough and ready setup, but it does the job, keep the earth bar damp is half the battle. Pee carefully beside it is my number one tip;)

Solar panel I think is 20 amp, from didldialdi. Fencer was expensive, but can be used on mains as well. Foopin mean bastards don't even put a pair of battery clips in the box:mad:.

Battery is an old car battery, we use 2, keep one on charge and swop them around every few days.

emaherx · 09-06-2020 12:23pm

blue5000 wrote: »

Here's a rough and ready setup, but it does the job, keep the earth bar damp is half the battle. Pee carefully beside it is my number one tip;)

Solar panel I think is 20 amp, from didldialdi. Fencer was expensive, but can be used on mains as well. Foopin mean bastards don't even put a pair of battery clips in the box:mad:.

Battery is an old car battery, we use 2, keep one on charge and swop them around every few days.

Do you mean 20 Watt?

Bigger panel and better battery and you'd have no swapping every few days.

blue5000 · 09-06-2020 12:27pm

I'll have to check the box EM. Physics/electrics was never my strong subject. 20 watts would make more sense alright.

Solar fence

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