Solar electric fencing

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Orangehorse

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Apologies, this has probably been asked before - but who uses a solar powered electric fence unit. Does it work OK, any cons, which make?

Thank you in advance.

I have a battery powered one, but we are going to have to use another one to make a track in the field. Lugging two car batteries around all the time sounds like hard work!
 
If you already have an generaliser with battery clips, just buy the solar panel, there are loads on ebay and piggy back it on to the battery clips.
How long a fully solar energiser will last will depend on the battery that is in it, the fence output, and sunshine. This time of year daylight should not be a problem, even if it is overcast it will provide some power but the output may be less if the power in the battery is low. Some energisers have a night time mode that saves power.
 
I went for a cheaper one as I couldn't afford a Gallagher one, but many at my yard swear by the Gallagher ones being brilliant.
 
Agree about the Gallagher ones, they are brilliant. I have the s20 and s16 and both have lasted well, they hold charge even in winter.
 
I got a Gallagher S100 on recommendation.
Installed about 20 months ago, hasn’t missed a beat and gives out a real kick.
Covers the 6 acres with ease.
 
I've got the Rutland ESS 400 Solar-Powered Electric Fencing Energiser and it is great. It doesn't have to do a great distance but it stops ponies, cows and calves (who are notorious for going through my electric fence!). It has kept its charge even through winter. It was about £220 2 years ago but has been well worth the money, I haven't had one break through the fence in that time whereas before I would be continuously removing ponies from cow fields and cows from pony fields!
 
Oh that's interesting. I have had a Rutland mains powered electric unit for over 30 years and it's still brilliant. Was looking at solutions for another field which is too far away from house to power via mains as woodland btw so will get a Rutland 400 as does 2km of fencing.
 
Would love a Gallagher one- my friend has one and has gone all through winter without needing to charge it.

Sadly beyond budget for me, though I’m interested in solar panels and already have a good battery and energiser. Any recommendations?
 
rabatsa said:
I use Gallagher S20 for both my fences not connected to the mains.
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Yes, I have a couple of S16s and they are really good. Mine do keel over a bit in winter and need a charging boost, but for spring, summer and autumn they're basically no maintenance.

They do come up occasionally on second hand sites so it's worth keeping an eye out. I think I paid £80 for my second one and I'm not sure it's ever been used.
 
I got a few shockrite solar energisers and, while they work, they aren't strong enough for my knob of a Welsh cob.

So I took the plunge and got the Gallagher and it has stopped the little escapee in his tracks!
Hard to swallow the spend but worth it to keep him where he's meant to be.
 
Yes I have the My Animal Command one, it’s fantastic and needs no maintenance over the summer but I do have to bring it in and charge it a little bit over the winter when there isn’t much sun. It wasn’t cheap but you can get it on amazon or directly from the company who are lovely and I can honestly say have excellent customer service. Highly recommend!
 
I've had a Rutland solar energiser for two years now, the first one wouldn't hold charge for more than 10 days without needing charged from home and was replaced by retailer. Their advice is that they need manually charged once a month. The replacement is better but still only lasts less than 3 weeks from October to April before needing charged. It is only powering a small amount of fence that isn't earthing out and is switched off through the day, we do live in North of England and our default weather is rain but I am disappointed in it.

I can't remember the model but it does have a high joules output, I specifically picked it because of that as I have a shetland to contain!
 
GoldenWillow said:
I've had a Rutland solar energiser for two years now, the first one wouldn't hold charge for more than 10 days without needing charged from home and was replaced by retailer. Their advice is that they need manually charged once a month. The replacement is better but still only lasts less than 3 weeks from October to April before needing charged. It is only powering a small amount of fence that isn't earthing out and is switched off through the day, we do live in North of England and our default weather is rain but I am disappointed in it.

I can't remember the model but it does have a high joules output, I specifically picked it because of that as I have a shetland to contain!
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That’s interesting and slightly disappointing as I’d have had Rutland down as one of the better options given that all the Rutland kit I’ve had before has been really good.
 
I am really disappointed as I also rated Rutland stuff. The person I spoke to at retailer was adamant that they need charged every month which to me defeats the purpose of having a solar energiser as it's actually more awkward to take off fence to charge and means I need a back up energiser for fence whilst it is charging. I did have a Hotline Fire Drake which held it's charge much better even throughout the winter but it wasn't quite powerful enough for the Shetland. It lasted four years.
 
GoldenWillow said:
I am really disappointed as I also rated Rutland stuff. The person I spoke to at retailer was adamant that they need charged every month which to me defeats the purpose of having a solar energiser as it's actually more awkward to take off fence to charge and means I need a back up energiser for fence whilst it is charging. I did have a Hotline Fire Drake which held it's charge much better even throughout the winter but it wasn't quite powerful enough for the Shetland. It lasted four years.
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That's really interesting as I haven't charged mine since I first bought it around 2 years ago. I am very careful to make sure it isn't earthing on anything and it doesn't go a great distance which may have an impact.
 
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