Sentry Gate Opener Information Solar Charged
The Sentry gate opener is the first truly solar charged gate opener for the Do It Yourself market. The system design and the accessories recommended are all Solar Friendly meaning that they require the least amount of energy possible to perform the job they were designed to do. The solar option allows you to install the gate opener in remote areas or in applications where you prefer to be solar charged. Solar charging does provide isolation from lightning that might damage the unit via the AC power needed for the transformer.

Understanding AC Charged System
The Sentry gate opener comes with a low voltage transformer which plugs into the charge controller and can easily provide 575 cycles of operation a day without decreasing the battery charge. In the event AC power goes out the opener will operate for weeks on the battery (if cycles per day are below 20) before needing service. Again, accessories connected to the opener are critical. Always use Solar Friendly accessories to help avoid premature battery failure in cases of power outages.

Understanding Solar Charged System
The Sentry gate opener is designed to provide enough cycles a day for most installations without needing more than one solar panel. Care must be taken to ensure the solar panel has full sun throughout the day; partial sun will give partial results. If no sun is present then a solar system is not practical no matter how many panels might be installed. Solar Panel must be kept clean and in full sunlight.
The design of the system must pay particular attention to any accessories that might be added, use only Solar Friendly accessories to help avoid premature battery failure. For a complete list of solar friendly accessories please click here.

Region 1 covers the area of the country receiving the least amount of solar radiation.
On average, the amount of charge time is 1.5 hours in region 1 and 3 hours in region 2 and 5 hours in region 3.

These are conservative numbers and the Sentry opener should have no problem performing as stated in the chart above. See Region Map (figure 1) to determine cycles that can be expected. These numbers are based on a basic system and adding solar friendly accessories will not have any great affect on the numbers stated.