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running leds from solar panel
Hi all, just a quick one….
has anyone had any experience of running led lights from solar power?
the reason i ask is firstly from an environment angle but also from limited power supply also.
we are putting a proposal together for a client and they are very environmental friendly conscious, as I’m sure we all are these days…and think that offering them the option of powering their led lights in their new sign would be a great selling point.
but unfortunately we have no real experience in powering anything using solar panels.
from the research i have done so far they only really supply low voltage and usually charge a battery for when there is no or limited light and i also understand that LEDs are usually low voltage too?
I have got an ebook on solar power and the use so that should help
any help or advice is appreciated.
cheers
stephen -
4 Replies
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contact
applelec signs
01274774477,they do solar panels for leds
Ian
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cheers ian, they are on my door step and we have used them before once or twice.
cheers
stephen -
We’ve done several solar/LED jobs and there are some things you need to know.
12V batteries are really 13.8V or so. Many LED systems (such as Applelec’s Permlight stuff) use resistors set for 12VDC. If you apply 13.8V to these modules, you will be over-driving them greatly and they will depreciate much more quickly than they should.
Solar systems are great ways to operate off the power grid, but they’ll cost you about the same overall. While the upfront costs are higher and you operating costs are almost zero, you do have to change out the batteries every few years and this expense is more or less equal to what hydro would have cost at today’s rates. As power rates increase, the savings will also.
You need to figure out the size of your load (in amps) and calculate how many amp hours you need from the batteries. A good rule of thumb is to use triple the number. This is because if you fully drain the batteries each time, they’ll wear out much sooner. Also, it ensures that even on days you don’t have a great charge, that you’ll have sufficient juice to run your lighting.
As for the LEDs – I would use ONLY those that have regulated current control on each module. Some companies do this, some don’t. Some do it for higher power LED products (as we do) and then leave the lower power stuff to be done with resistors only. Special batches can be run if you specify solar/auto/battery usage, but I can’t speak for what other companies local to you would actually do.
Good luck – and be sure to post your results if you go ahead with it.
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thanks for the reply marko…some stuff to think about and a fair bit of planning.
cheers
stephen
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