Short answer: Choose the backup from your outage pattern before you look at machines. Short, frequent cuts suit an inverter with a battery, long and rare cuts suit a generator, and daytime power suits solar, which needs a battery before it protects you at night. Compare the options on cost per kilowatt-hour over their working life, including fuel, batteries and service, not on the sticker price.
Key takeaways
- Log your outages for four weeks before you buy: how often, how long and at what hour.
- An inverter with a battery covers short cuts, and a generator covers long ones.
- Solar lowers the daytime bill but does not protect the house at night without a battery.
- Compare options on cost per kilowatt-hour over the working life of the kit.
- Buy the service plan, the spares and the fuel supply along with the machine.
Start with the outage, not the machine
The farmer who asks us for a generator is usually asking the wrong question. What they really want to know is which machine keeps the house alive, and the answer depends on how the power goes off at their site. Most farmers have a rough feel for it, but very few have written it down.
Outages differ from one town to the next and from one week to the next. Some farms lose supply for a few minutes several times a week. Others go a whole evening without power once or twice a month. A third group loses it for a long stretch in the working day. Each pattern asks for a different backup, and buying for the wrong pattern is the commonest expensive mistake we see.
Our broiler day-old chicks page and layer day-old chicks page set out the flocks these houses will carry, and the load of a grown flock is what the backup has to meet.
Three outage patterns and the answer to each
Log your outages for four weeks before you ask a dealer anything. Note the date, the time the power went, how long it stayed off and whether the fans and pump kept running. Then find the row in the table that matches your log.
| Outage pattern | Typical example | Best first answer | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short and frequent | Several cuts a week, each under an hour | Inverter with a battery | Switches over in seconds, so the fans and pump do not stop |
| Long and occasional | A few evenings a month, four hours or more | Generator | A battery big enough for those hours is costly and short-lived |
| Long and daytime | Power off for most of a working day | Solar with a battery, plus a generator for cloudy spells | Solar makes energy in daylight, but the night needs storage |
| Overnight and unpredictable | Power may go at any hour and stay off all night | Generator, with an inverter for the first minutes | The generator carries the night, and the inverter covers the start-up gap |
If your pattern does not fit one row, you probably need two backups. That is normal. Many farms in our area end up with an inverter for the fans and pump, and a generator that starts when the battery runs low.
What an inverter with a battery does well, and where it stops
An inverter draws power from a battery and turns it into mains-style power for your fans, lights and pump. When the grid drops, it switches over quickly enough that the fans keep turning. In a broiler house in the hot months that matters more than most people expect, because a fan stopped for even a short time can drive the house temperature up fast. Its running cost is the electricity used to recharge the battery, and it runs quietly with almost no attention.
Where it stops is the battery. A battery carries a load for a fixed number of hours, and its usable energy falls as it ages and as it is discharged deeply. A bank sized for an overnight outage is large and expensive, and it wears out quickly if it is cycled hard every day. The inverter must also start every motor on the list, and a pump's start-up draw can exceed what a small unit will take, even when its running figure looks comfortable.
What a generator does well, and what it costs you
A generator carries the whole house for as long as you keep it fuelled. The length of the outage does not matter to it, which is why it is the answer for long nights. Its weaknesses are the ones you live with every day: fuel has to be bought and stored, the set needs regular service, it is loud, and someone has to start it at the hour the power goes off.
Fuel is the running cost to watch. A set burns more fuel per kilowatt-hour at a light load than at a load near its rating, so an oversized set that runs lightly is an expensive habit. Short bursts with cold starts also use more fuel than a long, steady run. Diesel and petrol behave differently in storage and in damp, so the fuel decision and the storage plan belong together.
Theft is a real concern on a farm. Fix the set to a base, keep it in a locked enclosure where you can, and write its serial number in the record book. Set it outside the house with the exhaust directed away from the vents and the people, and never run it in a shed or a closed room.
What solar does well, and why it needs a battery for the night
Solar panels turn sunlight into electricity during the day, which cuts your grid bill and your generator hours in the middle of the day. Ghana has strong sun for much of the year, but harmattan dust and the rainy season both reduce what a panel gives. A dusty panel is a weak panel, so the cleaning routine is part of the running cost and should be written into the plan.
Solar is not protection on its own. Without a battery the system stops when the sun goes down, and a night-time outage finds the house in the dark. With a battery, the system can carry the night, but the battery then decides the cost, the lifetime and the usable energy. Its age, how deeply it is discharged and the temperature of its cabinet together decide how many years you get from it, and a battery that runs hot every afternoon ages faster than the brochure suggests.
Compare the options on cost per kilowatt-hour
The cleanest way to compare three very different machines is to put each one on the same unit: the cost of one kilowatt-hour delivered to your fans and pump over the working life of the kit. Add up the purchase cost spread over the years, the fuel or grid charge, the service and spares, and the battery replacement where there is one. Divide the yearly total by the kilowatt-hours the kit delivers in a year.
Written as a formula, that is the purchase cost divided by the years it lasts, plus the yearly fuel or grid charge, service, spares and battery replacement, all divided by the kilowatt-hours delivered each year. The result is not a sales price. It is the cost of the energy you actually use, and it is the figure to put in front of a dealer.
| Cost line | Generator | Inverter with battery | Solar with battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase | Set and changeover switch | Inverter and battery bank | Panels, controller, inverter and battery |
| Running energy | Diesel or petrol per kilowatt-hour | Grid power to recharge | Sunlight, free once installed |
| Battery replacement | Not applicable | Every few years, depending on cycles | Every few years, depending on cycles |
| Service and spares | Oil, filters, plugs or injectors, and call-out | Inverter checks and battery checks | Panel cleaning and controller checks |
| Biggest hidden cost | Fuel, and downtime if it fails to start | Battery age and early replacement | A battery too small for the night |
Use the table to ask the right question. The machine that looks cheapest in the showroom often has the highest figure once fuel, batteries and service are added in.
A worked outage budget for a broiler house
Take a broiler house with a critical load of 1.2 kW, made up of the fans and the pump running together. In the first case the house loses power for 40 minutes at a time, three times a week. That is a short-and-frequent pattern, and it points to an inverter with a battery.
The energy for one outage is 1.2 kW for 40 minutes, which is 0.8 kWh. An inverter loses some of that on the way, so divide by an assumed efficiency of 85 percent to get about 0.94 kWh drawn from the battery. If you plan to use only half of the battery's rated capacity, the battery must be about twice that figure, around 1.9 kWh of rated capacity. That is the size to ask a supplier to quote, with the assumptions written beside it.
Now the other case. The same house loses power once a month for six hours at night. One outage is 1.2 kW for six hours, which is 7.2 kWh before losses, or roughly 8.5 kWh from the battery at the same 85 percent efficiency. A battery that size costs many times the first one and sits mostly idle. For this pattern the generator is the cheaper answer, and the inverter's job is only to carry the house through the minutes before the set starts.
Those two cases give you the logic. Put your own load and your own outage pattern through the same arithmetic. Do not accept a sizing from a supplier who will not show you the load, the hours and the assumptions behind it.
Hybrid set-ups that work on Ghanaian farms
Most farms that run a flock through the year end up with more than one source. Three combinations come up often, and each carries its own trade-off.
- An inverter and battery for the house, with a generator that starts automatically when the battery falls to a set level. The battery takes the first minutes and the generator carries the long nights.
- Solar and battery for the daytime loads, with a generator for cloudy stretches and the night. Solar cuts the fuel bill, and the generator protects the flock when the rains run long.
- A generator alone, with a small inverter to bridge the first minutes. It is the cheapest to buy, but someone must be present to start it.
The automatic start is worth paying for on a farm where nobody sleeps in the house. Ask the installer whether the controller can start the set on a low battery, and how it stops the set afterwards. A controller that starts the set and then fails to stop it burns fuel all night.
Need chicks for your next batch?
Send breed, number and town. We reply with price, hatch date and delivery cost in writing.
What to ask the dealer before you pay
- Ask for the load list the system was sized to, with the watts and starting current of each motor.
- Ask for the fuel use at half load and at full load, in litres per hour.
- Ask for the battery's expected life in years and in cycles, and the depth of discharge assumed.
- Ask for the service interval and the parts list, and whether the parts are in stock in Ghana.
- Ask who services the set or inverter, how far they travel and how quickly they respond.
- Ask for the warranty in writing, with its period, what it covers and who pays freight on a faulty part.
- Ask for a test under load on your own site before you accept the installation.
- Ask for the earth, the changeover switch and the cable sizes to be listed on the quote.
- Ask what the warranty becomes if the set runs on the wrong fuel or misses its services.
- Ask for a named contact who will answer a phone call on a Sunday.
Our frequently asked questions cover the practical side of ordering birds, which the power plan has to support from the first day.
Noise, fuel storage and theft
A generator is loud, and its noise carries across a farm and into the next compound. Set it on a hard base away from the houses, use an acoustic enclosure if the supplier offers one, and let your neighbours know before you run a test. Store fuel in clean, sealed containers away from the set and the birds, and out of the sun. Fuel that sits for months loses quality, so buy in amounts you will use within the season.
Theft is the cost nobody puts in the first quote. A set or a battery bank can leave a farm in a single night. Fix the base to concrete, lock the enclosure, mark the equipment and keep the records that identify it. A cheap padlock is not enough, and a battery stolen on the night of a power cut costs far more than the lock would have.
Match the backup to the flock stage
The loads change with the age of the birds. Chicks need heat in the brooding weeks, and heat is the heaviest load on most farms. Lights and fans matter more as the flock grows, and the pump matters all the time. A system that copes with a grown flock may not cope with a brooder, and the reverse is also true. If the brooder runs on gas, the house backup can be smaller, but do not forget the cylinder changes. Our guides on brooding without electricity and electricity in the poultry house show the loads at each stage.
When the chicks arrive, we send them the day they hatch in ventilated boxes of 50, so plan the brooder's power before the box is opened. The generator sizing guide works through the load list in detail, and this guide is about choosing between the sources.
Mistakes we see when power is bought in a panic
- Buying the biggest generator in the shop because it was recommended, with no load list.
- Sizing an inverter on running watts and ignoring the motor's start-up draw.
- Buying a battery for the whole night when the outages last an hour.
- Putting a generator in a closed shed, or next to the air inlets.
- Skipping the changeover switch and running a lead from the set into the house.
- Waiting for the first long outage to find out whether the backup works.
Plan the backup before the birds are ordered. Our Kasoa page covers collection at the farm, and you can place the order through the order form. If you would like a second opinion on your outage log, message us on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503 and we will point you to the right type of supply for your flock size.
Questions farmers ask
Is an inverter or a generator better for a poultry farm?
Neither is better for every farm. An inverter with a battery covers short, frequent cuts and switches over fast enough that the fans keep running. A generator covers long outages at a lower cost per hour of cover. Log your outages for four weeks, then choose by pattern. Many farms end up with both.
Can solar run my whole poultry house?
It can in daylight, if the array and the battery are sized for the loads. Solar alone does not protect the house at night, and brooding heat is a heavy load that solar rarely carries on its own. Size the system from a written load list, and ask for the battery size needed for the night, not only the daytime load.
How do I work out my cost per kilowatt-hour?
Add the purchase cost spread over its expected life to the yearly fuel or grid charge, service, spares and battery replacement. Divide that yearly total by the kilowatt-hours the system delivers in a year. Use your own figures and the dealer's written specification. The result is the cost of energy you actually use, and it is the best basis for comparing a generator with an inverter.
How long should an inverter battery last?
It depends on the battery type, how deeply it is discharged, how often it is cycled and how hot its cabinet runs. Ask the supplier for the life in years and in cycles, and for the depth of discharge assumed in that figure. Keep the battery cool and in good condition, and test it at the monthly check. Replace it when it can no longer carry the load for the time you planned.
How often should a generator be serviced?
Follow the interval in the manufacturer's handbook, which usually sets the running hours between oil changes and filter checks. Run the set under load once a month, as the callout explains, and keep a log of the hours. A set serviced to the book and tested monthly is far more likely to start on the night it is needed.
Is it safe to run a generator near the birds?
No. Set the generator outside, away from the house, with its exhaust pointed away from the air inlets and people. Never run it inside a shed or a closed room, because exhaust gas can kill people and birds. Use a proper changeover switch and an earth, and have a qualified electrician check the connection before you rely on it.
What should I do in a long outage with no generator?
Prioritise the loads that matter most: ventilation for a grown flock, and heat and water for chicks. Switch off lights you do not need, and watch the house temperature closely. If the outage runs longer than your battery or fuel plan allows, arrange help early rather than in the last hour. Keep your phone charged and the important numbers written down.
