No plugs, no chargers

Every eShepherd neckband powers itself. Each one carries two solar panels, one facing out on each side, that charge a battery inside the neckband. There are no plugs, no chargers and no battery swaps.

The trade-off is simple: a solar neckband needs sun. Each neckband needs about 4 hours of direct sun a day to keep its battery topped up. On most farms, cattle grazing in the open get that without anyone thinking about it.

The battery

The battery is lithium iron phosphate (LFP). It was chosen for two reasons that matter on a farm:

  • It handles heat. LFP is a stable chemistry that is not prone to the thermal runaway behind battery fires in some other lithium types. A neckband sitting in summer sun is not a concern.
  • It lasts. The neckband is designed for long-term outdoor wear, and every neckband carries a 3 year warranty.

New neckbands arrive almost flat

This surprises people. For freight reasons, new neckbands are shipped with only a small amount of charge. Before anything else, before turning them on, fitting them or training, put them in the sun for several days.

Up to a week of sunny days gets them fully charged, and it takes longer in winter when sunlight is weaker. Laying them out where nothing shades them as the sun moves across the sky speeds things up.

This step is easy to underestimate and it sets up everything after it. A neckband that starts with a healthy battery is a neckband you will not have to think about again for a long time.

How you know the battery is healthy

The app does not show a battery percentage. LFP batteries hold a very steady voltage across most of their charge, which makes an exact figure hard to measure. Instead, the app uses battery alerts:

  • Low battery is an early warning. The neckband keeps working normally.
  • Flat battery means the neckband pauses virtual fencing until the sun has charged it back up.

No alert means the battery is in good shape. There is also a solar panel alert, which appears if one panel has not been producing power for a while. That usually means the panel is covered or dirty, or the neckband is lying on the ground.

Mud, winter and keeping panels clean

The panels only work if light reaches them. Cattle grazing low winter crops, such as fodder beet, can coat their neckbands in mud, which blocks the sun and slows charging. In those conditions it pays to check a sample of neckbands every few days and wash the panels with clean water and a brush when cattle come through the yards.

Neckbands also save power on their own. They talk to the platform less often overnight, and their GPS runs in a lower-power mode when the animal is well away from a virtual fence.

When neckbands are not in use

If neckbands will be off cattle for a while, they can be put into hibernation with the magnet key. It is good practice to top up the battery in the sun before hibernating them for a long stretch, so they wake up ready to work.

What this means for you

Plan a few sunny days into your start date, keep the panels clean in muddy seasons, and keep an eye on battery alerts in the app. Beyond that, the sun does the work.