Solar powered heater in a solar kiln?

[Daburner87]

When it comes to some of this technical stuff I'm a bit clueless.  Never used solar power before, but I'm looking to build my kiln this year and I see a lot of people complain it doesn't get hot enough.  So what if I add a solar powered heater inside?  I think it needs to hit 140 degrees in order to kill some of the bugs and whatnot, so what is a way to help boost the temps in the solar kiln without causing a fire?

[Daburner87]

Also for that matter, what is the cost to just run an extension cord to my kiln and put fans on a timer?  My kiln won't be too far from my house, a 100ft extension cord would work.

[Ianab]

You need the fans to circulate the warm air in the kiln, no matter what the temperature. The power the fans need is low enough that  you can run them off a solar panel, they only really need to spin when the sun is shining. The fans might only need ~100 watts of power, so no big deal to power them via solar. 

Heating, up to sterilise temps at least, is problematic. That takes a LOT of energy. As in thousands of watts of heating. It might be practical to add mains electric heating to a solar kiln, it only needs to boost the temp for under a day at the end of the cycle, and you fit a thermostat that limits the temp to ~145F so things don't melt or catch fire. 

Other option might be a separate sterilising chamber that could be super insulated, but that would mean extra handling. 

[firefighter ontheside]

What do you mean by a solar heater?  I imagine you could do any other type of solar collectors such as black pipes with air being drawn thru.  Still not sure you're gonna get to the temp needed for sanitizing at least not on a regular basis when the temp outside is cool.

[Daburner87]

Im trying to figure out how to add more heat because my location is somewhat problematic.  Im worried my kiln wont get enough hours in the sun.  So im trying to think of alternative ways to add heat.