Thoughts on solar vs. electric hook-up for an automatic driveway gate? We've gotten a few quotes and the solar option is significantly cheaper, but I'm worried about the reliabilty. We are DFW area for what it's worth. Thanks in advance!
I had a heavy, double-swing gate built in 2010, and I opted for the solar gate charger. I had nothing but problems. I went through a couple of chargers in that time, and it died again this last summer. I tried larger batteries, bigger panels, etc, but nothing worked. Even had an electrician run through the numbers with me, and concluded my given the draw of the opener, the capacity of the battery, the amount of sun I had, the output of the panel, and the time the charger should be running (whenever it was fully powered by the panel), that setup should keep up with the gate opening 10+ times a day; the charger/panel just weren't as efficient as they claimed.mel07ag said:
Thoughts on solar vs. electric hook-up for an automatic driveway gate? We've gotten a few quotes and the solar option is significantly cheaper, but I'm worried about the reliabilty. We are DFW area for what it's worth. Thanks in advance!