Help with low voltage lighing ideas

[EddieWalker]

I'm building a gazebo in a remote area of my land that it's not practical at this time to run power to. I would like for it to be lit up at night time and think that going solar might be the way to go. My thought is that if I put a solar panel on the roof, I could charge a 12volt battery during the day, then when it gets dark out, a photo cell would turn on the lights. They would stay on until the battery, or batteries ran out of power. Then the next day, the solar cell would recharge the battery and it would be ready to go another night.

From what I'm seeing online, outdoor low voltage lighting with LED's is 12 volts. So wouldn't this be just like wiring up a car?

Am I right, wrong or what am I missing?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[RBA50]

Depending on how fancy you want to get, Harbor Freight has some solar security lights that come on at dusk and off at dawn (if the battery lasts) They get brighter when the motion sensor is tripped.

 

[hr3]

Several ways to do it,, Check out some ideas here,, Solar LED Light Kit | eBay

 

[sparc]

Depending on how fancy you want to get, Harbor Freight has some solar security lights that come on at dusk and off at dawn (if the battery lasts) They get brighter when the motion sensor is tripped.

The big box stores also have similar lights, some with remote solar panels so you can place them at the optimum location, and the light and battery get mounted elsewhere.

If you wanted to build your own I would think deep cycle batteries would be better than a starting type battery as is used in a car, truck, or tractor. Using LED lights it should be possible to get enough run time to last over 12 hours without depleting the battery below 50%, that's just a guess as depending on the type and chemistry of the battery there is a recommended maximum discharge level.

 

[CNC Dan]

You will need to need to have a battery and panel large enough to keep the charge level from going too low. Or some kind of charge controler that will cut off the light when the battery gets low. Lead acid battries are harmed by over discharge, and time spent in a discharged state.

 

[forgeblast]

How much light do you need? We find at night we just use Christmas lights. They sell battery powered and solar powered ones. I have a few sets for my vendor booth when I sell at night.

 

[charlz]

If you wanted to build your own I would think deep cycle batteries would be better than a starting type battery as is used in a car, truck, or tractor. Using LED lights it should be possible to get enough run time to last over 12 hours without depleting the battery below 50%, that's just a guess as depending on the type and chemistry of the battery there is a recommended maximum discharge level.

I wouldn't even cycle as low as 50% because that is really the lowest you ever want to go, any lower will really shorten the life of your battery/batteries. The deeper and more often you cycle the batteries the shorter their lifespan.


If the idea of solar powered Christmas lights doesn't' work figure out how many lights you need to run and for how long. That will give you ampere-hours which will dictate how large a battery and how large a solar panel to keep it charged up.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm not very knowledgeable about batteries. What is the advantage of a deep cycle battery if it has to be kept at half charge or more all the time? In all honestly, I bet that I would only want to run the lights a few hours into the night at the most. I'm not sure what I'm going to buy, so I don't know what my total output or draw will be. That's why I was thinking that I could buy multiple batteries and size the solar panel accordingly. Probably a lot of trial and error unless I can find a store that will design a package for me. I wont know what I want until the gazebo is framed up and I know where I want the lights to be. My goal is to accent it so you can see it from a distance and it will look beautiful at night.

Does anybody have a brand that they like or one that I should avoid? I've used Malibu From Home Depot and they worked alright, but they where plastic and they broke pretty easily. I'm wanting metal and planning on the long term for them.

Eddie

 

[forgeblast]

I can not remember the site I bought from. They are metal Malibu-style lights with glass enclosures, It was either
Landscape Lighting by VOLT®
or
Landscape Lighting - LightingDirect.com
With our freeze/snow etc I was worried about the plastic shattering. The metals one get bulbs replaced ever so often, but are still going strong after 8 years.

 

[ishiboo]

I'm not very knowledgeable about batteries. What is the advantage of a deep cycle battery if it has to be kept at half charge or more all the time? In all honestly, I bet that I would only want to run the lights a few hours into the night at the most. I'm not sure what I'm going to buy, so I don't know what my total output or draw will be. That's why I was thinking that I could buy multiple batteries and size the solar panel accordingly. Probably a lot of trial and error unless I can find a store that will design a package for me. I wont know what I want until the gazebo is framed up and I know where I want the lights to be. My goal is to accent it so you can see it from a distance and it will look beautiful at night.

Does anybody have a brand that they like or one that I should avoid? I've used Malibu From Home Depot and they worked alright, but they where plastic and they broke pretty easily. I'm wanting metal and planning on the long term for them.

Eddie

Deep cycles can withstand discharges to 40%+ and many more cycles. You'll kill a starting battery in short order with that setup. Two golf cart batteries would be the most heavy duty.

If you are recharging via solar, you'll want to do LED lights or you'll need a LOT of solar panels. Even maintaining a single deep cycle will take a decent amount to do.