Powering Garage door opener with solar panel and batteries
I want to put some solar panels on my roof to power some batteries to drive my garage door opener. The garage door opener is a 1/2 hp craftsman. What battery solar panel and battery configuration do I need for it work? The door is only opened or closed no more than 4 times a day. Thanks
A anything I’ve seen says that 1 hp is 746 watts. So 1/2 hp is 373 watts. I’m not exactly sure of the hookups, but there are some good PDFs and information located at this site that may be able to help you out.
http://www.homepower.com/index.cfm
Meridian:
The knowing the size and type of the garage door opener is only part of the solution. What is more important is how much work needs to be done to lift and lower the garage door. It is possible that staying with the existing motor may not be the best solution to your challenge. You may want to stay with the mechanism and but put a new motor in that would work better with a battery powered device.
You first need to determine how much work must be done to lift and lower the garage door. Most garage doors have spring mechanisms that reduce the amount of force required to lift the door but the total amount of work to lift and lower the door through one cycle will be the same.
Once you have calculated the amount of work that needs be done in each opening and closing cycle, you can then determine how much energy you will need to capture from the sun and store in the batteries. Remember depending on your location you may need to capture enough energy to operate the garage d