Solar heat lamp

[TiffHawk22]

Is there a good solar powered heat lamp out there? I have no power at my barn. We just built a barn on our peice of property. We have water but no electricity yet. Can I possibly find a good solar powered heat lamp to get chicks? Or could I put multiple solar panels together and they run a heat lamp 24/7? March and April in Iowa can still get really cool.

 

[Mvan42]

Following, interested also

 

[GoldenSlumbers]

Heat lamps draw a LOT of energy and unless you have a battery bank to store the solar power, it wouldn't work at night anyway. And you'd need a LOT of solar panels to run a heater during the day, as well as have enough juice to charge batteries for night time.
Then you have to think about cloudy days, sun angle, time of year, etc...
So, not impossible, but very impractical (and very $$$$).

 

[chooki]

You would need a battery in order to run the heat lamp 24/7, and it will cost you at least a couple of hundred dollars, to say the least. Heat lamps consume A LOT of energy, so in reality the battery you need is probably going to cost you a thousand or more in order to last all the way through the night.

With that said, a good battery can last you 5 years or more. You can get a second hand battery for a fraction of that amount, but second hand battery may have a much shorter lifespan.

An efficient air conditioner that also does heating would require less energy and thus, less expensive battery.

Of course, there is the alternative of wood stove if your area allows it, or if you know how, use solar panel to heat water in a hot water system and use the hot water to warm the house. In theory, it is much cheap because there are place where you can get second hand hot water system for free, but in reality it is much complicated to implement such a system.