I have a lightweight door that slides open and closed. I want to have it open at dawn and close at dusk. The actuator is an old 12V DC power antenna unit mounted horizontally. Control is the issue a photocell will provide continuous power while there is light and then no power when it gets dark. I need about a minute of power at dawn and another minute at dusk. From the old power antenna unit used here you may deduce that this is a low budget project.

There are power doors out there that will do this for about $200, I would almost do that but they all work vertically and the situation here is it has to be a sliding door due to the construction of the structure.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

You could install a battery into the circuit. But it may require more components. You can use the photocell to charge that battery.

Not sure how much load the motor puts on to a 12 Volt battery, since the door may load it down even more, but if you have access to meter with amps, put it in series on one leg and actuate the door. Once you know the amperage to deal with, without creating a charging circuit from scratch, I would look for a similar solar lighting kit that could support your motor load. If you find one that deals with an assortment of landscaping lights that aren't LED, but the conventional halogen style, it should be 12V and have all that you need in a convenient package. I would probably use a fuse on 1 leg just to be safe, that way you don't blow your solar charger/battery supply. Install a slow blow just over the amperage you read earlier from you meter.