Do you hate to open your driveway gate in the rain?  Have you ever wished you could have a gate operator but were concerned that the cost would be to prohibitive?  Have you decided that because the location would require an electrician to run power to your gate that the cost would be to high?  Are you trying to live “greener”?

Well, after months of opening the gate at my office, it dawned me that the funny looking panel at the top of our unit was a solar panel.  We have a solar powered gate opener.  Feeling a little dense that it took me several months to realize this and discover it’s just like the one at home, I decided to find out more about them and the right places to use them.  I was surprised at how they work and the size of gates they can be used on. 

Our general manager very patiently explained to me that their are some drawbacks to the units.  The first is that they are sun driven so if there are several days of rain and the units are used a lot (over 80 cycles) then you could be stuck either in our outside the gate.  In the case of our office, we open the gate in the morning and close it at night.  The one at home is opened by the first person to leave and closed by the last and repeated as we all trek home at night.  This works fine even if we have a week of rain which in Houston is rare. 

The size of the gate can also cause problems but as long as the gate is 25′ or shorter there shouldn’t be a problem.  If you get any larger, the operators won’t generate enough power to open the gate but we don’t usually see gates longer than this unless we are installing a commercial fence. 

Lastly, they make the solar operators with battery back ups for the boy scouts who always like to be prepared.  Or if you have higher volume of usage. 

So, if you want to go green, not have to get out of your car in the rain and don’t want to hire an electician, a Solar Powered Gate Operator is right for you.