Solar Electric Fencing

INTRODUCTION

This was my first main project that was given to me by Vigyan Ashram. I had to do this project in Rajgurunagar where there is a shed in which waste is processed. And the main problem was caused to the waste by rats so to prevent it from rats it was decided to do solar electric fence around the shed to avoid rats.

Following is the site where I had to Solar Electric Fencing :

Previously I was given one assignment which I performed in a group with 3 more interns and this was my first individual Project.

04/09/2024

As I was given the project on electric fencing so firstly I collected some basic information related to solar electric fencing which is given below so that I can get some basic Idea about it.

Solar Fencing works like an electric fence wich delivers a brief yet fence shock. When human being or animals comes in contact with the fence. The shock enables a deterrent effect while ensuring that no loss of life is caused.

Main components of solar fencing :

Solar pannel
12v battery
Battery charger
Solar fencing energizer
Siren 12v dc
Live indicator lights
Fencing wire

Features of a solar fencing :

Low maintenance cost
Highly reliable as it functions irrespective of gride failure
No physical harm caused to human being or animals
Cost effective
Males use of renewable solar fensing
Generally,comes with a centralised alarm system.
Conformity with national and international safety standards.

Advantages of solar fencing :

Easy construction and maintenance
Low cost as independent of grid supply
Does not cause fatal injuries
Capable of being shifted, extended, modified and re-erected from one place to another without causing wastage of materials or labour
Long life due to the absence of any physical pressure causing water and year

After reading some information about the solar electric fencing Mahesh sir gave me the phone numbers of two vendors and told me to get quotation from them but both of them didn’t received the call. So for finding more vendors I went to Indiamart and contacted some vendors and asked them for quotation. After some time one vendor sent me the quotation but it was not enough as I was told to get 3 to 4 quotation but unfortunately I didn’t received more quotations.

11/09/2024

I continued the word of getting the quotations by again contacting the vendors. I contacted few old vendors that I contacted before and also contacted some new vendors. Till I receive the quotation I was not sure about the working of the Solar Electric Fencing that is why I decided to learn about the working of solar fencing so I started browsing about it. Following things I learned:

Working :

1. Solar module generates direct current from sun which is used to charge systems battery.

2. Output of the charged battery reaches the energizer.

3. Energizer produces large voltage. The primary function of the energizer is to produce pulses of about 8000 volts. These pulses are passed through the wires of fence at the rate of 1 pulse every 1-1.5 seconds. Every pulse last for 3 milisecond.

In this way I understood the basic working of the Solar Electric Fencing in short. Also I watched some youtube videos related to it to get more clear Idea about it.

After that I received one more quotation but rest of the vendors kept on pending. So till now I was only able to gather two quotations. Then I showed it to mahesh sir then he told me to make excel sheet showing the costs of different vendors and the material they will provide.

13/09/2024

On this day, we had a meeting about the progress of the projects associated to all the DIC members. In this meeting Kulkarni sir, Dixit sir, Prasad sir, Mahesh Sir as well as Suhas sir were present. Each one of us gave updates about their projects to Kulkarni sir. Then I was asked about my project for which I explained me about my project of Solar Electric Fencing. I told them what I have done till now.

After that I started working on Excel Sheet that was given to me and was incomplete.

14/09/2024

Today I had a discussion with Dixit sir and he told me to study about the anti-mosquito racket. The purpose of it was that the anti-mosquito racket also generates electric shock to kill the mosquito so he wanted me to study working of it and see whether I can use its concept in my project. Then I watched a couple of videos about it on youtube and studied about it. Then I understood that the working of anti-mosquito racket is completely different from that of the electric fence. In the anti mosquito racket there are three nets used. And a capacitor is used. One end of capacitor is connected to outer nets and another end is connected to middle net. when mosquito enters the racket and connects outer and middle end the current flows and kills mosquito. And in electric fencing pulses of high voltage are sent through the fence wires which give a shock whenever touched.

15/09/2024

We had a review about every DIC members project. In which we had a brief discussion on chilli dryer project where we discussed the solution about how and from where the air should be thrown out of the dryer.

One of the member Dhanraj was told to give presentation on his project which was related to the Livestock shed Problem. After that i was supposed to present my excel sheet about the quotation of fencing but Dixit sir had some lecture at that time so I was unable to present.

Then Mahesh Sir told me to work on my second project which was roaster so I continued that. He told me to contact Rutuja and collect some information about the Roaster.

I got two contact numbers from Agrozeer company and I tries to contact both of them but unfortunately call was unable to connect.

16/09/2024

Today early morning we went to bring Bajra Husk for the Dryer Project of Abhijit. Total husk needed was 200 kg. Then our HOD S.K Jain sir came to visit. As soon as we returned by bringing the Husk. We all explained our project to our HOD. First we started with the Hydropinics project which was given to Tejasvi Mhatre. She explained what is her actual project. Then we went to Poultry where Dhanraj explained his project and what are the problems about the poultry. Then Jain sir told us the possible solutions for those problems. Then we went to BSF chamber which was project given to Nivedita so she explained it to sir. After that sir asked me about my project. Then I told them that I have got the Solar Electric Fencing project which has to be done at Rajgurunagar. Since the actual installation was not started yet so we didn’t visit the site. But I explained him how my project is different from the Standard electric fencing. As the electric fencing is done for animals like cows, sheeps, dogs, etc and we were going to do it for rats which are comparitivety smaller in size so out project was a bit different from standard Electric Fencing. So due to that I listed problems that I came across while thinking about project from which main problem was the spacing between the wire and ground. After that whole day we did sorting of the Husk that we brought in Morning.

17/09/2024

On this day, I was asked to present an excel sheet of quotation of the Solar Electric Fence System. I had created the excel sheet which contained Vendor’s name, total materials cost (Without Installation) and I attached the pdf file of the quotation received in the excel sheet. Unfortunately I got only two quotations. The excel sheet is given below :

Excel Sheet Link : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-QVg3gknlB3t6snO8YIuC2xN9wxur4JecdDHMWE8k8A/edit?gid=0#gid=0

I presented it infront of Dixit sir, Mahesh sir and Ranjeet sir. In that discussion some points were discussed regarding my project. Firstly they told me that the quotation we received is for Standard fencing for which voltage required is 10 Kv – 12 Kv and we are doing it for small animals (rats) so we will not require that much amount of voltage. They suggested me voltage of 5 Kv for rats. Also one more thing they asked me to find out the minimum spacing between the fencing wire and ground considering the chances arcing and also the size of rats. All these things were discussed in that discussion. After that the discussion was over. After that I read some articles on internet to understand about the clearance of fencing wires. But unfortunately I didn’t got the required information as per our conditions.

18/09/2024

On this day I started find the answers that I was previously asked in the last discussion which we had. So for that I discussed it with Dixit sir because I had some doubts related to the concepts of arcing. Then he explained me some concept about arcing. He told me that when a high voltage wire is placed close to the ground then the arcing may occur due to the potential difference created between wire and ground as ground is electrically neutral. After that I read some articles on internet to get more information about the problems that can be caused due to less ground and wire clearance so I got the following problems :

Increased Energy Drain
Maintenance issues
Flooding risks
Corrosion and wearing
Animal Escapes
Reduced Shock Intensity

20/09/2024

As the previous day I studied about the issues that can occur due to low fence wire distance from ground so I found out the minimum distance between them for 5kv. For that I took help of internet and read couple of articles. It was found out to be 2.95 to 5.9 inches. But Dixit sir asked me to find out for 100% humidity. So considering 100% humidity I had to increase the distance to 4.43 inches.

21/09/2024

As till now I had some idea about arcing distance and the amount of voltage so a thought came into my mind that if we are using less voltage than standard Electric fencing so will it affect the specifications requirement of other components such as Energizer, Solar module, battery etc. For finding that firstly I made use of internet. After that I saw the specifications that were provided to me in the quotations I received. After comparing both it was found that specs that were given in the quotation matched the range that I found on internet.

22/09/2024

Today we had discussion with Prasad sir about our individual projects. In this discussion he asked us about the updates of projects of each one of us. Along with everyone I also gave updates about my current project to Prasad Sir. After that we had to fill the google form given to us which was pending so we filled it with some discussion with Dixit sir. In the discussion Dixit sir asked us to specify the objectives and methodology in detail which I did and are given below :

Objective :-

At the site already nets are provided to avoid rats but they break the nets and enter inside the shed so Electric fencing is selected to keep them away from the site and stop them from entering the shed

Methodology :-
1.Contact Vendors and ask them for quotations of solar electric fencing as per our site
requirements.
2.Look at the technical specifications of components such as the Solar Module, Battery,
Energizer, etc. as per our requirement
3.As we are doing the electric fencing for rats which are smaller in size hence the spacing
between the fence wires and ground plays an important role here that’s why choose
appropriate spacing for fencing.
4.Look out for problems that may arise due to decrease in spacing between fence wires and
ground and solve them.
5.Then next step is billing of material and purchasing material.
6.Installation at the site.

23/09/2024

On this day we had discussion with Prasad sir about our projects and he asked us about the map of our projects according to which we should proceed but we were not sure about the map of our projects so he explain us with an example by mapping the project of Nivedita. After the explaination he asked us to map our projects. Then we started making our project maps. After completion I showed it to Prasad sir and he asked to do some corrections and add some points that I missed and after I did the corrections.

24/09/2024

Today I had discussion with Prasad sir about my project and I told him that we have decided to use 5kv Energizer for our fencing system. Than he asked me to check whether we can use 2 kv energizer which can lead to reduction in cost. Firstly I checked whether 2 kv energizer is available in marked or not. After getting confirmation that it is available I checked how much KV energizer will be suitable for rats on internet. After reading on internet for a while I got a range of 3 KV to 5 kv. After that I contacted some vendors and asked about it. They told me according to their experience that 5 kv will give them a high high voltage shock. Also I thought that there could be a chance that rather than rats by chance some other animals may also try to enter the shed so using 5 kv will be more safer.

25/09/2024

As the spacing of 4.43 inches was decided which was very large as the normal average size rat is in range of height 1 to 2 inches which result in a problem that the mouse can easily go below it without getting shock. I told it to Dixit sir and then he asked me to find solution for it. After thinking about it for a while I had some rough solution in my mind of putting some kind of material between wire and ground and wire so that the rat should not cross the fence but I had no clear idea about what to put. Then Dixit sir told me that we can use a insulating wire at about 1 inch from ground. As there will be no sufficient space for the rat to go below the wire he will try to jump over the insulating wire and come in contact with the fencing wire and get a immediate shock. This solution was suggested by sir and after he asked me to check for more possible solutions that could better than it.

28/09/2024

Today we had our DIC discussion. In this discussion everyone was asked to give presentation of their own projects. I started the presentation in which I gave updates of my project and the problem that we are stucked on. We discussed the previous solution of putting insulating wire again then we came to know that there is a problem in that solution too. The problem was that even if the rat get the shock after jumping from the insulating wire then too there would be 2 possibilities either he will go inside or he will go outside the shed. So if the rat goes inside the shed it will cause problem.In this discussion we also discussed about Wheatstone bridge concept.

29/09/2024

As in the previous discussion the problem arise that rat can cross the fencing even after getting a shock so today I tried to find out solution for it. After thinking for a while I came up with a solution that if we put a layer of a wire mesh just inside the fence wires at a distance of about 1 inch then if the mouse crossed the fencing he will stuck between the mesh and fence wire and he will again get a shock because the circuit will be completed as the mesh will be connected to ground. So I came up with this solution.

03/10/2024

I discussed the solution with Dixit sir. Then he told me that the solution I have decided was right but it will increase the cost very much as it will require electric fencing plus we will have to add the wire mesh inside it which will require more cost. Instead he suggested me that we can fit a sheet in the shape of ‘Z’ all around the boundary of the shed so that rats cannot enter the shed. Then we decided what material could be used for that for which I asked him about Ms sheet. Then he said to find me cost of MS sheet that will be required for the shed.

04/10/2024

Today I found out the cost of the MS sheet for two thickness 0.8 mm and 1.2 mm.

CALCULATION :

05/10/2024

I showed the the costs of the MS thas will be required to Dixit sir and he told me that the costs are fine. Then Mahesh sir told me that we can also use GI sheet for this and he told me to estimate the cost of it as well. The GI sheet was already being used in construction at Vigyan Ashram so I went there to ask the cost for which it was purchased to Anil sir. He told be that he purchased the sheet at Rs 32 per Sq.ft. So I calculated the cost of GI sheet that would be required.

CALCULATION :

I had discussion with Dixit sir regarding my project design and we finalized another different design. We decided to use metal sheet as well as Solar Electric fencing together to assure more safety.

15/10/2024

This was the design we discussed. After that Dixit sir told me to estimate cost for this design.

19/10/2024

I discussed with mahesh sir about our new design. Then he told me that the old poles are removed and now we have to install new poles. Then he told me to visit Rajgurunagar to take measurements again and look at the changes that are made at the site.

20/10/2024

Today we had our DIC discussion and everyone’s project and assignment was discussed in it. I showed my stool which was given to me as assignment and after that we had discussion about my Solar Electric Fencing Project. I explained my full project to everyone. Also today Raj took an user experience session which I attended.

23/10/2024

I went to Rajgurunagar with Mahesh sir to see the changes that were made at the site. I Also took all the measurements again. After returning I also took the measurements of the guest house where I got one more assignment to design stairs. I clicked some photos of the sites as well.

25/10/2024

I made new layout of the shed with the dimensions that is took yesterday.

Then I also drew the new fence system design.

I showed this design to Mahesh Sir he told me that it is ok for two sides but the remaining two sides are different so he told me what I am going to do for those two sides.

08/11/2024

I had discussion with Dixit sir about the materials of the electric fend=cing as the design was finalised. In that discussion I also cleared the doubt that I had about the design. We had sone extra space just next to the gate and I was confused that we had to use theat space or not and Mahesh sir told me that we have to. That area was 60 * 80 ft. Also we discussed about which wire we can use for fencing. Two options we discussed one was GI wire and another was aluminium wire. Then i contacted vendor from i took quotation from and asked whichone is available and he told me that GI ans SS wire is available. The price of GI wire was Rs 140 per kg and SS wire was Rs 1000 per kg. I told it to Mahesh sir and he told me to search for wire online.

09/11/2024

I made a list of materials that we have to purchase.

Following is the List of material

1) L-Angle

2)GI sheet

3)Fencing Wire

Rest of material was ordered by Mahesh sir from Tejas Dhadave.

10/11/2024

I showed the materials list to Mahesh sir and he told me to make excel sheet. Then I made the excel sheet. Two materials were remaining one was L angle and another was GI sheet so I calculated their cost. First I calculated how much L angle will I require and then I calculated it’s cost.

Calculation for L angle : 20 ft L angle was available whose weight was 16 kg . We want 3.25 ft L angle for one pole so 1 L angle can be used for 6 poles. And we wanted 18 poles so 3 L angles of 20 ft will be required.

Price of 1 L angle is 60 Rs per kg.

1 L angle weighs 16 kg.

Therefore cost of 1 L angle = 16 * 60 = 960 Rs

We Require 3 L angle hence total cost = 3 * 960 = 2880 Rs

Calculation for GI sheet : I only calculated the GI sheet for two sides as remaining two sides were covered with walls so there was no need of GI sheet.

Area = Length * Width = 150 ft * 1.25 ft = 187.5 sq.ft

Cost of GI sheet = Rs 32 per sq.ft

Total cost of GI sheet required = 187.5 * 32 = Rs

30/11/2024

Fencing material that was ordered by Mahesh sir arrived today. So I opened the parcel and made the list of what materials are there.

Following is the list of material that was present in the parcel.

1)Energizer

2)Battery

3)55 Rell insulators

4)12 corner insulators

4/12/2024 – 8/12/2024

I had Discussion with Dixit Sir about my Project and I told him that few material is remaining to purchase. Then he told me to purchase the remaining material and start the installation. Then i went to Prasad sir to get the permission to order the remaining material. Then he told me to create solidworks model of the Fencing System so I created the solidworks model of the complete fencing system.

First I created the seperate components and then Assemble them together.

1. Platform

2. Fence Intermediate Pole

3. Fence Corner Pole

4. Reel Insulator

5. Corner Insulator

6. GI Sheet

And the did the complete Assembly by Assembling all these components together.

7. Assembly

9/12/2024 – 10/12/2024

Went to Pune to purchase the Clutch GI wire and the Corner Insulators.

List of material I brought-

1.Corner Insulators for Rs 600/-

2.Clutch wire for Rs 900/-

11/12/2024

Brought the L-Angle and did the cutting of L-Angle into the pieces of length 3.25 feet each. Total 18 pieces were cut down for the 18 poles of the fencing.