Solar gate openers are one of the most popular solar powered products for home and business parking spaces. These innovative gate openers offer reliable, consistent performance and are ideal for many properties.
Before you invest in a new solar gate opener, it’s essential to consider if this option is the best fit for your home or business and whether the benefits of this device outweigh the challenges.
The Advantages of Sliding Gates With Solar Power Panels
Solar powered sliding gates offer many benefits for your property, including security and convenience. For this reason, solar gates are among the top choices for automatic gate openers. They are available in a variety of models and sizes available to fit your parking space and property access.
1. Sliding Gates Open During Power Outages
Since a solar powered gate operator stores electricity, it will continue working consistently during a power outage. You can also design your sliding gate to open manually, which is an excellent feature for any type of automatic gate opener. You'll have continued access to an outage with both of these options, operating your sliding gate manually or with solar power panels.
2. It’s Better for the Environment
You'll reduce your greenhouse gas emissions when you install any device that runs on solar power, and you’ll reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Solar energy is one of the best ways to reduce sources of power that come from fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal, such as electricity. Since solar gate operators produce no emissions, it’s a great way to help the planet and reduce your carbon footprint.
3. Cost Savings
Automatic sliding gates use a lot of electricity, which can add more to your bill. Solar panels can reduce grid-based electricity to almost zero, primarily if you use solar panels to power your home or business. You’ll only need to add extra power as backup, which doesn’t impact your usage significantly.
4. Solar Powered Gate Operators Include the Same Accessory Options
You’ll have the advantage of including all the same accessories when installing a solar powered gate opener, as with a standard automatic gate. Solar panels provide the energy you need to run a variety of sliding gates and swing gate openers and work well with eyebeams, wireless keypads, remote controls, and other gate accessories.
5. It’s More Affordable When AC Power Isn’t Available
In some regions, AC power isn’t available or may cost too much to access, which makes solar energy a great alternative. When you install alternating current power or AC power, it's labor intensive because it involves digging into the ground to run wires from the gate to the power pole. Fortunately, solar panels don’t require extensive installation costs or effort and are also less expensive.
6. Possible Eligibility for Federal Government Rebates
You may qualify for rebates when you install a solar powered gate opener on your property. If you run a business, installing a solar powered gate will not only reduce electricity costs, you may be able to claim tax benefits or other rebates applicable to businesses.
Are There Any Drawbacks to Installing a Solar Powered Gate Opener?
Generally, an automatic sliding gate opener with solar power offers many advantages. However, it’s essential to consider any drawbacks that may impact your decision to install this gate operator.
- Initially, there are higher costs associated with installing solar panels, though this often depends on the type of gate opening system and the gate opener kit. These expenses are quickly absorbed in the savings on electricity bills.
- If you install a large or heavy gate and use it often, it may require that more electricity is stored in the gate opener’s battery, which means the amount of power you’ll have access to may be limited. Fortunately, this is a minor inconvenience, and most solar gates open quickly without any issues.
- Your property may not be suited for a solar powered gate opener due to a lack of direct sunlight required to charge the solar panels or if you live in a northern climate where sun exposure varies considerably year-round.
- Solar gates may not work as consistently when there’s a series of cloudy or rainy days and the sunlight availability is lower than usual. This situation can lead to having less electricity stored in the solar panels, and you may require a backup power method.
Overall, a few situations can impact the function of your solar powered gates. However, with the right conditions and professional assistance, you’ll find that most of these systems work exceptionally well. If you want more than one power option, you can install a backup battery or simply have the gate designed to open manually if there isn’t enough power stored.
Solar powered swing gates and sliding gate systems require more maintenance than standard automatic gate openers. For example, the solar collector will need to be wiped down to reduce dirt and debris build-up, and any trees or shrubs near the solar panels may need to be trimmed to prevent blocking sunlight exposure. Aside from a little extra care, you’ll find solar powered gates offer more advantages in the long term in cost savings and energy efficiency.
Summary
When you review the various gate opener options for your property, you must consider your location, weather conditions, and the layout of your home or business, which can all impact you.
Solar panels and solar powered systems continue to improve and provide greater storage capacity. While a standard gate may open and close up to ten times daily with solar power, a larger gate may only open just three times each day.
Fortunately, solar powered systems can provide a significant amount of energy savings. Various backup options are available if you need to boost the power needed to operate gate access frequently. Contact us at All Security Equipment to inquire about solar powered-gate openers and the newest, innovative technology for all your parking access requirements.
