Written by: Jason Governo
An electric fence sounds like an expensive alternative to your traditional wire and posts. When most farmers or landowners investigate, they discover that electric fences can operate for pennies a month. Using a simple equation of power by time (watts x time x 30 days /1000= kWh (or total usage a month), you can see it costs substantially less than you might think. Still, some areas of your farm or land may be inaccessible to electricity. Thanks to the sun, you can install a solar powered electric fence to gain the same benefits without the additional operating costs.
Added Savings
You’re not going to spend a fortune to operate an electric fence. You will, however, spend money to maintain one. You’ll need insulators, access to electricity, tensile wire, grounding units, chargers and constant checking between seasons to ensure your device works. A solar powered unit removes some of these costs, including the monthly operating fee to provide a more cost-effective unit than traditional electric-powered devices.
Access to Energy Anywhere on Your Land
Some areas on your land will make it expensive to setup an electric fence because of either the environmental setup or the remoteness of a location. Installing an electric livestock or a horse fencing setup requires energy. Still, solar powered fencing allows landowners to contain animals located near remote or environmentally challenging areas with little hassle.
Same Benefits of an Electric Fence
Most land owners worry a solar-powered fence will not provide the same toughness or electric shock to an animal. However, solar-powered fences provide the same level of security and reliability of a standard fence.
Storing Power
In a perfect environment, the sun will appear 365 days a year to provide an abundant source of renewable energy. As most farmers and livestock owners know, that isn’t always the case. Still, these solar powered fences can store energy for days, a necessary feature during weeks of rainfall or drearier weather conditions. Most solar panels will store additional energy, and because most electric fences use little wattage, a fence can contain plenty of added sunlight. And most individuals can purchase all the necessary supplies at a local or digital Farm Supply Store.
So as you start to think between traditional electric fencing and solar powered units, consider your costs, environment and need for renewable energy. While traditional electric fences may work closer to your home, more remote areas may require a solar powered unit to prevent added costs.