Backyard Shed Lights
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New 12X20' shed for backyard. At this time, no way to get electricity back there.
Was thinking about a solar panel to 12V battery to LED light strips. Saw a few things on youtube about a 25W solar panel running to 12V to LED lights and it was neat.
Was wondering if anyone here has a similar setup and any recommendations of products to use?
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@pmoncho Lots of options when googleing for "solar powered indoor lights". No idea what is good and not, so I want to know what you end up with and how well it works.
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That is my issue, so many dang choices and I don't delve into the solar panel world. I'm not the electrician by any means so I have to figure out how much solar panel I need to charge a battery to allow X amount of lights to run for X amount of hours on battery. Just confusing....
I will keep this post updated.
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@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
That is my issue, so many dang choices and I don't delve into the solar panel world. I'm not the electrician by any means so I have to figure out how much solar panel I need to charge a battery to allow X amount of lights to run for X amount of hours on battery. Just confusing....
I will keep this post updated.
Well, if you wanted to make the entire thing yourself, those calculations are pretty easy compared to what I've been doing with quadcopters, thrust to weight ratios, power draw and such. I'll need a block of free time to figure it out, and maybe a prodding as a reminder tonight.
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@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
That is my issue, so many dang choices and I don't delve into the solar panel world. I'm not the electrician by any means so I have to figure out how much solar panel I need to charge a battery to allow X amount of lights to run for X amount of hours on battery. Just confusing....
I will keep this post updated.
Well, if you wanted to make the entire thing yourself, those calculations are pretty easy compared to what I've been doing with quadcopters, thrust to weight ratios, power draw and such. I'll need a block of free time to figure it out, and maybe a prodding as a reminder tonight.
Yes. I was planning on making it myself. I just don't have specifics on the calculations.
My example is This on Youtube
I don't believe he mentions how big his shed is in the video, but I think those same lights would work for my size shed. I will need to mount the Panel on the NW side as that gets the most light.
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@pmoncho The other big question is, are you in Texas or New York? Big difference in the amount of solar power you can count on getting!
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@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho The other big question is, are you in Texas or New York? Big difference in the amount of solar power you can count on getting!
I'm NE Ohio. I am only planning on using the light in the shed for about 5-7 hours a week and about 1-2 hours at one time.
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@pmoncho Great Lakes regions, like your general area is 4th in the lower 48 for mostly cloudy or overcast weather annually.
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I was looking this up a few weeks ago. A friend was trying to make a set up for his family still dealing with the aftermath from the hurricane. He went w a solar setup using car batteries. Calculations can be found here: just scroll past the sales pitch of the company's batteries. https://hitlights.com/blogs/news/how-long-will-your-batteries-power-my-lights
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It auto corrected out his family in Puerto Rico.
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We purchased a kit from Harbor Freight - it came with everything I needed at the time for a small lighting project.
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@Dashrender it's pretty interesting stuff. I'll be getting another shed in the next year or so and I'll have to do this. I was able to find a solar calculator and see the optimal placement.
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@mary
Thanks Mary. I took a look and will use that.I'm guessing I should find the lights I would like and then work backwards to figure out the type of battery and Solar panel I would need.
This is not a big project and the light is more for convenience than actual work.
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@Dashrender said in Backyard Shed Lights:
We purchased a kit from Harbor Freight - it came with everything I needed at the time for a small lighting project.
I will check out HF this weekend. Lots to do before the wedding but I will make it an "but honey, its on the way" trip. :winking_face:
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@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho The other big question is, are you in Texas or New York? Big difference in the amount of solar power you can count on getting!
I'm NE Ohio. I am only planning on using the light in the shed for about 5-7 hours a week and about 1-2 hours at one time.
Well shoot, we should say hello sometime. I'm on the east side of Cleveland.
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@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho The other big question is, are you in Texas or New York? Big difference in the amount of solar power you can count on getting!
I'm NE Ohio. I am only planning on using the light in the shed for about 5-7 hours a week and about 1-2 hours at one time.
Well shoot, we should say hello sometime. I'm on the east side of Cleveland.
Absolutely. In our PM, I mentioned B-Spot. Lola Burger and Reissdorf beer
Edit: Sorry, Apparently I was thinking B-Spot and forgot to actually type it. I only mentioned grabbing a beer. My bad.
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@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho The other big question is, are you in Texas or New York? Big difference in the amount of solar power you can count on getting!
I'm NE Ohio. I am only planning on using the light in the shed for about 5-7 hours a week and about 1-2 hours at one time.
Well shoot, we should say hello sometime. I'm on the east side of Cleveland.
Absolutely. In our PM, I mentioned B-Spot. Lola Burger and Reissdorf beer
Edit: Sorry, Apparently I was thinking B-Spot and forgot to actually type it. I only mentioned grabbing a beer. My bad.
Hrm, should we start #mangomeetups?
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@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@travisdh1 said in Backyard Shed Lights:
@pmoncho The other big question is, are you in Texas or New York? Big difference in the amount of solar power you can count on getting!
I'm NE Ohio. I am only planning on using the light in the shed for about 5-7 hours a week and about 1-2 hours at one time.
Well shoot, we should say hello sometime. I'm on the east side of Cleveland.
Absolutely. In our PM, I mentioned B-Spot. Lola Burger and Reissdorf beer
Edit: Sorry, Apparently I was thinking B-Spot and forgot to actually type it. I only mentioned grabbing a beer. My bad.
Hrm, should we start #mangomeetups?
I don't see why not. More than 1 in some places of the world could be considered a group. Then we label it a MangoMeetup!
