5 Hints for A Solar Electric Fence
Hopefully by now you are experiencing a new level of freedom with the information I’ve given you.
One of the most important parts of this freedom is of course food supply. And if you live like we do you have to worry about critters getting to your food supply. Fortunately there is an easy fix that uses that great big power plant in the sky: the sun.
It’s the easy, low-maintenance solar electric fence
All-in costs for this electric fence should be less than $200 for a 50×50 foot home garden. This system should last for at least 10 years, so the cost of protecting your food source is really low. Here’s what you’ll need (nearly everything is available at ranch supply stores, acehardware.com, or spheralsolar.com):
- 200 feet of polytape or electric wire
- 24 fiberglass support rods and plastic insulators
- 4000+ volt fence charger with 12VDC input
- Copper rod for grounding the system
- Deep cycle battery from a boat or marine store
- 5w-10w 12VDC solar panel for charging the battery
- Deer repellent and cloth strips
Installation is pretty easy. Start off by driving the corner posts around the outside perimeter of the garden. Then space the remaining poles 8-12 feet between the corner posts to keep the charged wire tight. Now string the wire between the posts about 3’ off the ground, or higher depending on your critter problem. You can also run several lines around the posts at varying levels if you are concerned about rodents and rabbits.
Before connecting the wires to the fence charger, attach repellent-soaked rags about every 4 feet along the wire. This will ensure that deer won’t try to jump your wire setup and will stay clear. You may also want to set up a ‘gate’ where you can enter the garden without turning off the fence. Now attach the fence wire and grounding rods per the instructions on your fence charger.
Finally connect the fence charger input to the 12 VDC battery, and attach the appropriate leads from the solar panel to the same terminals on the battery. With a simple set up like this and a fence that is presumably on most of the time, you shouldn’t need a charge controller. If you take the fence down for the winter, then also disconnect your battery and solar panel and store them in a safe place.
It’s a good idea to test your fence occasionally to make sure its still running. I shouldn’t have to tell you, don’t do this with your hand! Do it with a simple $5 voltage meter. If you notice your wires are often dead, you may need an additional solar panel and battery. This is common for longer fences and fences that are often touched by animals.
Now you can enjoy your garden and its bounty without worrying about the furry friends ruining dinner!
RE: ELECTRIC FENCING – Testers, Deer, horses.
FENCE TESTERS – you don’t need to buy a volt meter to test your fence. If you have a spare insulated gate handle, you can make a simple tester. Fasten a length of wire or polywire a few feet long to the gate handle. Stand next to the fence. Put your foot on the trailing end of the wire so it makes good ground contact. Hold the insulated handle, and approach the fence wire with the hook on the handle. If the fence is working, a spark will jump the gap from the fence to your tester. (Don’t worry about your foot getting zapped – the charge will go straight to ground.) The length of the spark you can get will tell you how good a zap your fence is putting out. If it barely clicks with the tester almost touching the fence, it may not be strong enough to be a deterrent. If you get a good sharp snap and a blue spark jumps a quarter inch or more to your tester, it’s working quite well. If you don’t have a spare gate handle, you may be able to test the fence by simply unhooking a gate and holding the handle while letting the gate sag until the wire nearly touches the ground. You should get a spark jumping from the wire across the gap to the ground.
DEER FENCING – If you don’t want to have to install a huge high fence to keep the deer from jumping it, try this: Put up a single wire at a little below deer shoulder height. At intervals along the wire, hang strips of aluminum foil (preferably the heavier stuff such as in disposable cooking trays.) Crimp each piece well to the wire for good contact. Smear each strip with peanut butter. Then turn on the fence and wait for the deer to try to lap the tasty treat. I have heard that the older ones try it, then teach their young to leave it alone, so you educate two generations.
HORSE FENCING – As to the comment that horses learn to get out within a year, here are a few tips. First, it’s likely your fence was not working as well as it was at the beginning of the year. First, make sure the fence is not being grounded by weeds, defective insulators, etc., and that your ground rod is making good contact. If you are in a dry or frozen climate, the best solution is to get bipolar fencing. HorseGuard Fence makes a wide tape that has the hot wire on one edge and the ground wire on the other edge, and needs no external ground. It works great even where grounding is a problem. Anyway, once you are sure your fence is working well, shave your horses’ muzzles. This keeps them from “testing” the fence before touching it. (Some people think they can smell the electricity, but I find they are using their whiskers to feel if it is working.) Then stand outside the fence and offer a tasty treat, held where they can’t get it without touching their muzzle to the wire. (Be careful how you hold it – if they touch you and the wire at the same time, you will also get zapped.) Most horses don’t mind so much if they run through the wire with their chest, because that disconnects the wire before they get zapped much, and because their chest is not as sensitive. But once they have been zapped on the nose, where it hurts more, they will usually leave it alone for quite a while. We run our fence off of a 110 volt charger from our solar-and-generator powered house. We don’t like to run it all the time, as it is one more drain on the house batteries. My husband wired it so there is a switch that controls the charger, located right next to a window that overlooks the paddock. When we look out and see someone leaning over or reaching under the fence, we turn it on and wait for them to hit it hard enough to make them jump back. Then we turn it off again. Since they can never tell when we are watching, it makes them wary as they never know when the power will suddenly come on. The others all hear the snap followed by galloping hooves and snorting, so usually catching just one horse every couple of months is enough to keep all four of them respectful. If we notice they’ve been leaning on the wire and stretching it when we aren’t around, we’ll turn it on at dawn and make them wait an extra hour or so before breakfast so they go looking for what they can reach outside the fence. When we look out and see them all in a little huddle in the middle of the paddock, we know somebody got the message, and we turn it off and go feed them.
This is wonderful information. Preparation is really the key to surviving. To quote somebody who said that ” if you are not preparing, you are preparing to fail”. certainly your information on various topics you have covered is helping me prepare for the future.
thanks so much for taking your time to educate innocent people like me and others about the future.
tried to copy your infro, but only got little fema hate insert, would like to get more information on this
page. & any thing else you may have that would be helpful. thank you.
Great idea, Frank. Hey, could you post some pics of sample final solar fences you have built? That would really help.
I live in the city with a very large lot. We have deer, squirrel, possum, skunk, raccoon, and mole who are either already living somewhere in our yard, or visit daily/nightly. OH, and three kinds of bees and tons of birds. Will this fence keep out birds?
My neighbor plants a beautiful garden and this year the deer ate it all. I will be sure to show him this. Thanks
hey it is good idea to have that kind of solar for the gardens as I have
thought of that years ago because of the squirrels and also thanks for your
wonderful idea for the garden protections!! ill feed them at other place,too.
Hello Frank
I have give up on tomatoes for fall garden this year — have planted 60 seeds 3 times only seen 6 plants 1 st time and 3 plants 2 nd time and all those disappeared not even a dead stem just gone — a bird may have done this but to late to plant now — here in SE Ga. may have cold weather in October this year.
this wood pile is beside my fall crop of Quick Pick Pinkeye Purple Hull Peas 6 — 70 foot rows with my rabbit fence up and working them rabbit sitting outside crying ” no peas for us ” this time same place my Peaches and Cream sweet corn was.
my rabbit fence– 2′x10′– 1″ PVC frame with 1 vertical in middle with Ts on bottom corner for post to go in to stand up covered with chicken wire and 1′ hanging out at bottom –worked great this yr keeping rabbits out-but squirrels had a feast– working on an idea to stop them for next yr
my rabbit fence– 2′x10′–worked great this yr keeping rabbits out-but squirrels had a feast– working on an idea to stop them for next yr
O.K. Sounds good. Where do I get the solar units, etc., and what do I ask for???
—-chicken wire with small holes will work for top cover — only a few small birds can get in — I used 2×4 treated 10 ft long for my bird cage top but support for top cover can be many things just needs to be strong enough for chicken wire on it
—— my rabbit fence is working great seen 4 rabbits looking at my corn from the “outside” yesterday
Thanks. I put in a garden two years ago. It was decimated by critters and our very hot weather that summer. So I’ve been contemplating an electrical fence. Thanks for the information. Any ideas for covering the top so as birds, cats, and rabits can’t get in?
My chicken house is using treated 4×4 10 ft post with tin on roof and 2 walls chicken wire on other 2 walls with auto water and 100 lb auto feeder. Outside pen my “bird cage” is an old hog pen with 48 in wire with 2×4 in wire and chicken wire on all walls and chicken wire on top with many kinds of post, its about 40 yrs old.
The under ground wire,down 1 ft out 1 ft, has not failed for 3 years now on the new chicken house. The animals like to dig from the shortest route to go under a fence or wall, They have not figure out to start away from the wall or fence and tunnel under yet. Guess they need a ruler !!
For my new sweet corn, Peaches and Cream, I have 6 rows 100 ft long and I am putting up a rabbit fence,wild ones are growing in numbers. The rabbit fence is 3/4 in PVC pipe 2 feet x 10 feet covered with 3 ft of chicken wire with 1 ft over the top of ground on outside of fence. Connecting panels with 1/2 round steel rod driven in ground with 2 post 1/2 in post welded to the in ground part. And yes I may need to dig in the wire out side the fence, will wait and see if rabbits enter.
I am looking for a system of shading tomatoes from the hot southern summer sun. I lost a big number of tomatoes last years. They “cooked” on the bush. It must be easily to put up and take down. My rows are never in same place each year. Guessing shading needs to be at lease 30 % covering 2 — 36 in rows 100 ft long because I do not put more than 2 rows together. It gets very hard to pick when fully grown bushes are 6 feet tall and up to 30 in or more diameter.
solar fence may work for animals you handle or feed and be around lot, not so much for feathered friends. Had 5 acres under electric fence to keep out the deer and hogs, it worked very good until I got tired of put the fence back up after deer when threw it.
A better way to keep most animals out of a small garden. When I say small, my garden is 100 ft by 100 ft, but the size protected is what is important. The wire can be chicken wire up to 12 ft high, with 1 ft below ground and 1 ft out under ground forming an L shape, 1 ft down x 1 ft out with 10 ft above ground. Could use the 2×4 in wire also but many little animals can go right thr it. And yes chicken wire for a top will keep alot more animals out like birds.
I use this on my chicken pen which is 20 ft x 16 ft where feed ,water and 20 nests are and my outside bird cage which is 10 ft x 40 ft for my chickens to run and play. Oh 2 rabbits are in bird cage also. They have not dug out yet with the chicken wire down a foot out a foot on the inside of bird cage with chicken wire top also. Yes a little work to dig but well worth it.
Last year I found many tomatoes 260 planted being eaten by birds. I am looking at some type of protection for my tomatoes. Have not got it yet but will soon.
I’ve been thinking about something like this – the wildlife foragers are KILLING me. What kind of supports did you use? Metal pipes?
I have been looking at the possibility of using an electric fence to keep the critters away from my garden. I would like it to be an effective deterrent, but really don’t want any fatalities. The size of these critters ranges from red squirrels, who dig up and eat peas as soon as I plant them, to moose, who chomp off the tops of my little fruit trees. I would like to know if this solar fence can provide sufficient voltage for a moose to feel through its thick coat of fur, and also if there is a way to adjust the voltage of the lines placed closer to the ground, so I can keep the smaller animals out without frying them. Would I need a separate fence charger and battery for each line? Also, I read online that birds sometimes are killed when they try to perch on electric fence. Does anyone know how to prevent this?
I’ve used solar fencing since 1982 plus electric fencing run off AC. Both work well. Have graduated to using PVC piping cut to the height I need so I merely wrap the wire around each post and move on. Can fence in an acre in no time. Don’t recommend this method for horses unless they’ve been trained to an electric fence since babyhood. All my critters thru the years have been trained to an electric fence and it’s worked very well for horses, cattle, goats, dogs, cats, turkeys, geese, but not very well for ducks and chickens. It will repel the critters who attempt to invade the area but is not really good for deer (unless it’s really visible as a barrier) and doesn’t work on wild hogs at all.
After installation the only real work in maintaining a clean area under the fence since grass, brush, twigs will impede the current and often make it grounded (which means it isn’t working).
I have tried solar electric fences with horses and they will only work for about a year before they figure out how to take them out. Totally electric, the horse figure out they can run threw them to disconnect the wires. An electric wire over a metal fence, they can use their hooves to ground them. The horses will also test them and know when they are hot or not. I gave up years ago.
I’m searching the net with regards to fencing and I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog. Thanks for sharing!
I’m not so much worried about the deer and rodents, I’m worried about the smakes that will steal my $150 marine battery and solar panel!
I am like Robert McNeill. We rent also, yet our passion has been to live off the grid entirely. Answering his questions will answer ours. Thank you.
Donna
I ordered the Pwr for Pats. system yesterday and can hardly wait for it. Although I am very excited about this, it is possible I may not be able to use it. But please nderstand that I have no intention of requesting a refund. Let me explain. We rent our house. I doubt seriously that I would be able to create a set up where I could “go off the grid” completely without getting into trouble with my landlord. Our rental is managed by a management co. and they of course will want to protect their homeowner. Rightly so. From past experience I am pretty sure that the owner would reject any plea for me making permanent modifications the the house. So my first question is are there ways a non permanent partial solar/ wind power enhancement can be done? The idea being that even if I can’t get rid of my power bill, can I reduce it?
My next question is can solar power from solar panels be stored? If so, how? I apologize if I missed that on the 10 questions video.
Lastly, I hear radio ads and such from time to time about solar power, and I have been under the impression that people who have a “Solar Company” install a house with solar, that they still have to pay for their power, though at a much lower rate than the electric co. charges. Who would they be paying exactly and why is that different from this DIY system? Could someone come along and force me to pay for power I generated which your system? Again I apologize if I missed these answers or if these sound like stupid questions.
Thanks,
Robert