Frank Lloyd Wright, America’s premier architect, interior designer and social visionary, once noted that he thought it “just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.”

But he probably never thought of building one that used solar panels to maintain indoor air temperatures at a level that chickens find most comfortable. Or, if he did, he kept the plans to himself, because solar-heated (and lighted) chicken houses seem to be on the rise – not surprisingly, just in time to match the comeback of urban chicken farming.

Not only are solar panels ideal at heating chicken coops, but they can also be used as an additional source of lighting, and the Virginia Poultry Grower’s Association thinks the idea of adding solar to chicken-raising facilities might be a winner even for the big growers.

If nothing else, the excess heat from a solar array designed to provide electricity (for a house or a hen house) might be the break-even point for making poultry operations profitable again.

For those quietly chuckling as they read this in disbelief, the current economic disaster (and the need for a sustainable future) has thousands of people across the country going back to methods their grandfathers once used to insure food security.

This runs the gamut from honeybees on New York skyscraper roofs to rooftop farming in Chicago. In fact, two guys in the Big Apple are growing crops in the back of a pickup truck, and whole neighborhoods in Detroit are being converted to corn fields.

Newbie chicken farmers, be they city or country dwellers, often don’t realize that chickens are birds, and birds need a certain amount of warmth to lay eggs. Cold chickens not only don’t lay eggs, but they gorge on chicken feed without gaining weight, since cold also affects their digestive processes. Chicken can also catch colds, just like humans, but it’s against the law to make them people soup.

In addition to keeping chickens warm and laying in winter, especially north of the 45th parallel, solar panels can be used to automatically open and close hen house doors, to provide additional light during spring and fall days (which also encourages egg laying), and to cool chicken houses on sultry summer days via a simple vent fan.

Adding the fan can also prevent excess humidity, which causes disease. Adding interior lighting via solar panels to a hen house will prevent easily-spooked chickens from milling around outside at dusk, afraid to enter their dark house (yes, chickens are afraid of the dark!).

For urban (or rural) chicken farmers, electricity from solar panels can also automated some of the feeding and watering chores, as well as providing heat and light for egg incubation and the next “crop” of chickens, if you plan to eat more than just eggs.