Hello, I would like to get my small chicken coop to be lit at least 14 hours a day for egg production. I have bought an LED solar bulb on amazon. There is an IR remote and it is powered by a 18650 1800mA battery which is kept charged with a small 5V 1.2W solar panel. The wiring to the battery and to the bulb are easily accessible. The issue is that I cannot find a timer that will work because they require at least 5V to be powered. So, what I need is a very low power timer that could switch the bulb early on the morning and then turn off after a few hours (it does not have to be turned off when the sun is out, I live in South Florida). The closest I could find was a Timer control relay YYC-7 but I am not sure it will work since I cannot get a hold of the manual and what I saw online was that the timer can only go up to 999 seconds (Not sure there is a way to switch to minutes as time unit).
Please, let me know of my options. Thanks!!

 

Why not just use the Sun to switch on /off the light, at dawn and dusk, with a 555 photo switch, and your solar cell,, otherwise you're looking at a ready made timer clock module..

 

I'm assuming you don't have (or want to run) AC power to the coop. IF money is not a major consideration then I'd opt for a 12 volt solar panel and a 12 volt sealed lead acid battery (12 V SLA). From there it is much easier to find a timer. The size of the panel would have to be sufficient to charge the battery in weak sunlight, as Florida is often prone to cloud cover. But all that depends on how much money you want to spend. Keep in mind the return on investments. May cost more up front but in the long run you have less maintenance expenses.

And be careful charging those 18650's. If not properly charged - you could turn your coop into a chicken oven roaster.