Help with standalone outdoor pole lighting

[alep11]

Hi,

I would like to install a few outdoor pole lights in my ranch, in front of the house. I am thinking about 10 watts 12 volts LED flood lights, a small 12 volts 7.2 Ah ups battery, a 60 watts solar panel, a 12 volts photoelectric switch sensor relay, charging controller and insulated metal box to store battery and controller. Would I accomplish this project with the proposed equipment? also how would I calculate if the battery is big enough to power up the light for the entire night or maybe for 12 hours?
thanks.

[Naptown]

Do not use a ups battery they are not designed for that purpose
Use a flooded or AGM for longest life and lowest cost
If you use 120 watts a day that will require a battery with a capacity of 600 watts or a 50 Ah battery to give you light for 2 cloudy days
In Texas a 60 watt panel will probably get you through the winter but we would have to know the location to be exact
At this size a pwm controller is fine and Morningstar and others make them with lighting controls built in to turn the light on at disk and off a set number of hours later.

[alep11]

Thanks for your help here Naptown.
When you say no to ups batteries, is it due to short lifespan, performance?
The reason why I asked is because I can get ups batteries very cheap at work.

[Naptown]

Thanks for your help here Naptown.
When you say no to ups batteries, is it due to short lifespan, performance?
The reason why I asked is because I can get ups batteries very cheap at work.

Short lifespan they aren't designed for cycling

[alep11]

Here is what I got:

-60 W mono crystalline solar panel 12V
-Morningstar SL 10L-12V
-UPG UB12500 12V 50Ah Rechargeable SLA AGM Battery
-10W LED FLOOD WASH LIGHT WATERPROOF FLOODLIGHT
-Insulated box to store battery and charge control

Would that work?am I missing anything?

[Naptown]

Only three things more
A wire with whatever plugs the collector has on it twice as long as the distance from collector to charge controller ( you cut in half)
Fuse blocks for both terminals of battery and fuses(10A)
And some sort of collector mounting that will work on your pole

[alep11]

Only three things more
A wire with whatever plugs the collector has on it twice as long as the distance from collector to charge controller ( you cut in half)
Fuse blocks for both terminals of battery and fuses(10A)
And some sort of collector mounting that will work on your pole

Thanks again for the help Naptown.
Is there any special brand or type of fuse you recommend for this?

[Naptown]

For what you are doing an automotive fuse holder will be fine
For more elegance if you have screw terminals on the battery are post mounted fuses made by blue sea and available through marine stores like west marine

[Naptown]

Exactly where in Texas are you
That panel may not be large enough
Winter insolation when the sunlight is short and night long may become an issue.

[alep11]

actually I am upstate NY.
I went to home improvement store and could not find insulated box to store the battery and charge controller up in the pole. Any ideas?

[SunEagle]

actually I am upstate NY.
I went to home improvement store and could not find insulated box to store the battery and charge controller up in the pole. Any ideas?

You may have to go to an electrical supply store to get a NEMA 3R (rain tight) enclosure for that equipment. These can be metal but are usually plastic with gasketed covers that are screwed on or hinged on one side.

There are other possibilities depending on what size you need such as a Pelican box. They are very good enclosures but can be expensive.

Just remember that all of your wire penetrations in either box will required to be water tight and you will need a "back panel" inside to mount the charge controller and terminal blocks.

[Naptown]

That changes everything
Winter insolation there is vastly different than where I thought you were
So to start over again where in NY are you.

[Naptown]

Iron ridge makes all the boxes pole mounting units etc a web search will locate a dealer.
The battery box will need to be ventilated.

[alep11]

That changes everything
Winter insolation there is vastly different than where I thought you were
So to start over again where in NY are you.

Yorktown Heights NY - 10598

[Naptown]

Closest location to there I found is Newberg
December insolation there is 1.4
So to run your 10 watt light 12 hours a day would require a panel
120x 2 / 1.4 =118 watt panel
This will also require either a larger battery to account for higher charge current or a switch to an AGM battery that can take higher charge currents

Reducing the time on during the winter could also compensate for this
Nights in December and January are 14 hours long.


EDIT
My math was wrong on panel size
It will take a 130 watt panel if you use a controller like the sun saver mppt
Or a 180 watt panel if you go PWM