Power Options for Automating Your Aluminum or Iron Driveway Gate with Ghost Controls

When it comes to automating your driveway gate, folks often wonder how they are going to power the system. The Ghost Controls kits we utilize give you two different options. Wired directly with a plug or solar power panels. So today I wanted to take a look at both power options and the pros and cons of each.

But before we dig into that, let’s take a look at how that power is supplied to the gate motors.

Here I have the battery box supplied with the Ghost Controls DEP2 or DTP1 decorative gate automation kits. As the name implies, this box will house the battery that actually powers your gate. So regardless of choosing plugin or solar power, this battery is actually what’s powering your motors. This way, you can still operate your gate if the power goes out at the plug or cloudy days keep your solar panel from charging the system.

If we take a look in the box here, you will see there are two battery slots. The kits include one 12v, 7amp battery to power the plug-in functionality. However, you can order an additional battery for this second slot for additional power storage. Its recommended to use two batteries if you are using a solar panel and its optional to use two with plugin power.

Your power source has to be either the plugin or solar panel option. They cannot be used in tandem with each other.

Here are the 4 main pros to using plug in power:

1. Pro #1 is not needing additional accessories beyond wiring since the main kit comes plug-in ready.

2. Pro #2, outside of power outages, you will always have a more consistent and durable power source. If the power is on, your gate is working. And even if the power isn’t on, the gate is still working until the batteries go dead

3. Pro #3 is plug in power isn’t location dependent. It performs the same across the country unlike solar power.

4. Pro #4 is the plug-in setup is more durable. A solar panel can be damaged or destroyed by falling limbs or that jerky kid in the neighborhood that likes throwing rocks at the panel. With the plug-in transformer the wiring is buried and it can be securely plugged in at your garage or out of sight on the property side of the gate.

There are two main cons to using the plug-in set up to power your Ghost Controls unit.

1. The first con is the cost of running wiring down to your gate. A gate 50ft from the house or garage isn’t so bad, but running wiring 800ft from the house can get expensive fast.

2. The second con is distance restrictions with low voltage wire. Most folks elect to run the low voltage wire between the plug-in transformer and control box rather than run 120v wiring from the house to the gate. This is because its immensely cheaper to set it up this way.

However, with low voltage wire, there is a limitation to how far you can run power through it reliably. That limit can vary, but usually anything near or greater than 1000ft away from plug to power box won’t work. So if your gate is near or over 1000ft from the house, you’ll need to take a look at the solar panel option.

So, there’s the pros and cons of using the plug-in power option. Now let’s take a look at the pros and cons of using the solar power option.

There are 3 main pros to using the solar panels to power your Ghost Controls system.

1. Pro #1 is that with a solar panel, there is no digging or trenching of wiring between the house and gate. So you don’t have to do any digging or damage your yard when using a solar panel beyond the wiring between the solar panel and control box

2. Pro #2 is that there are no distance restrictions on how far the gate can be from the house. With low voltage wire, you can only go up to around 1000ft from your house. The solar panel could be any distance from the house and still power the gate.

3. Pro #3 is that its free energy with no additional monthly electricity cost. Granted, the plug-in option isn’t drawing a ton of power, but there is still an electricity cost with plug-in power that you don’t have with solar power.

There are 3 main Cons to using solar power

1. Con #1 is where you are located in the country and how much sun the area around the gate receives can dramatically affect how well the solar panel performs.

2. Con #2 is inconsistent charging. Plug-in works so long as the power is on. However, a solar panel is only working when its sunny. So, your gate may work great in sunny summer months and struggle in the darker and cloudier winter months. Even overly dusty or dirty panels can have decreased charging ability.

3. Con #3 is the solar panels are easy to damage. A falling limb or someone vandalizing the panel can render it useless. Its, tough to protect a solar panel from damage without blocking sunlight.