LED Lighting

3 Posts

Nov 21, 2009 04:18 pm

Has anyone been running their 12v led lights off of solar power ?

I bought a 15w solar panel (i know it's small but i had to start somewhere) and now i am looking for a controller to charge batteries to run my LED lights all around the house

here is what i am looking for
something that i will not outgrow if/when i get more/bigger panels
one that is well made and won't cook my batteries or die in a few years
one that is smart and can let me know the charge rates and battery charge state (if it has a network port or data logger that would be even better)
i would also to like it to have an output for connecting the load (so it could shut it off if the batteries got to low)
i don't know if it is possible or not but if it could be control the power from a small wind generator as well that would be killer

i don't know if it matters but the lights are 12v Flex Strips (from usledsupply.com) and some other 12v RGB Led lights so they don't use much power (30w per strip) but i may have several strips 1 or 2 per room so i expect to use 200 watts at most if they are all on i am running them of transformers now but it seems silly to convert 120v down to 12v when i could just use the power of the sun

i know that's a lot to ask but i don't mind spending some $ for a good one that will last as i plan on having all my lights replaces with LEDs soon and even tho i live in PA where we don't get much direct sun i believe i can power my led lights without any trouble

Someone has suggested the Morningstar Prostar Ps-15M but i am considering the 30 as it is not that much more expensive
anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks

Thomas Allen Schmidt

679 Posts

Nov 29, 2009 01:00 am

Re: LED Lighting

Q - "Someone has suggested the Morningstar Prostar Ps-15M but i am considering the 30 as it is not that much more expensive
anyone have any suggestions?"

A - Well, actually I have some questions of my own.

Q - You say "200 watts at most." How long of period of time, at most, will this 200 watts be on?

If on, for example, 4 hours then that would be a total of 800 watt hours or .8 kWh's (kiloWatthours) or at 12 vdc nominal, 67 amphours. To replace that with PV in one day, one would have to know "the number of hours of equivalent full rated charge from a PV module for your area". (I really wish somebody would come up with an acronym or something for that phrase.) So I guess that would raise question number 2.

Q - How many hours of equivalent full rated charge from a PV module can you expect at your site?

If I were to assume 4 hours of "equivalent full rated charge" then you would need a 200 watt PV array and at 12 vdc nominal that would be 16 amps. If I assume 2 hours then a 400 watt PV array at 33 amps. Which leads me to my last question.

Q - Do you see where I am going with all of this?

As for all of the other bells and whistle you put on your list, all I can say is research all of the prospective charge controller thoroughly. Don't rely on advertising alone. Go to manufactures website and pull up specification sheets and manuals and all. There is virtually nothing that can't be done with electricity well, except to bring someone back from the dead. Oh! It has been tried mind you. The fellas name was Frankenstein. The last I heard he was getting married. Can you believe that?

Desta C

3 Posts

Nov 29, 2009 01:24 pm

Re: LED Lighting

Q - You say "200 watts at most." How long of period of time, at most, will this 200 watts be on?

i know the 15w won't run all the lights for long (i don't expect they will be all on at once or at full brightness that long anyway) but if i do want them on longer some night i plan on incorporating a relay on the output of the controller so if the controller shuts off the load it will turn on a 120v power adapter so the lights will run via 120v power until the batteries get charged back up

and if it works i will just keep adding solar panels till my $ is gone

Q - How many hours of equivalent full rated charge from a PV module can you expect at your site?

I believe they say 4.2 hours of "equivalent full rated charge" is what we have here

Q - Do you see where I am going with all of this?

yes
i see that a 15w panel is not much of a start but i figured i might as well start somewhere and as long as i design the system so that i can keep adding to it as i get the money and figure out how much power i need to run the lights
then i have little to loose except a few dollars on the electric bill

Kevin Stevens

4 Posts

Jan 13, 2010 10:22 pm

Re: LED Lighting

We have been running the 12 v LEDs at our cabin since thanks giving.

here is a post about it.

http://kmswoodworks.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/to-build-a-better-light-bulb/

Tammy Wilson

7 Posts

May 8, 2010 08:45 am

Re: LED Lighting

LED Lightning is power saver and gives us life long support and it is having brightness also.

All LED lightnings are better to use for a long time and the resource that you provided here is utmost beneficial for getting some more updates.

You can also find energyboom.com

Thanks

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