Stable lighting - solar

[northwales]

Hi.

I am looking to install solar lighting within a stable (United Kingdom). Have had a look at some ideas using a 60 Watt solar panel with 10A charge regulator.

Need 3 lights, so main question is could I use normal energy saving household bulb (3 x 20w - 60 watt) going through an inverter and if so what size battery would i need, say for 3 hours use per night)

If not would 12v 4watt LED (maximum of 6 bulbs) be ok to use directly of the the regulator, again what size battery for 3 hours use.

Many thanks for any help

[Sunking]

you get less than 2 Sun Hours per day. At best you will achieve 50% efficiency. That is less than 60 watt hours per day, and you want to use 180 watt hours per day.

Do you see anything wrong with the numbers?

[northwales]

WOW what a nice response to a first time poster, guess you get them on all forums.

I said UK not the NORTH POLE.

[Sunking]

I said UK not the NORTH POLE.

No UK gets less than 2000 watts per square meter of solar insolation from mid October to mid March. In other words less than 2 Sun Hours per day. Summer is not much better with just 4 Sun Hours. Does not matter you cannot take 180 watt hours if all you can make is less than 60.

[northwales]

If this is the type of response I can expect from this site, I think I will search for a UK based forum.

Sorry i even bothered to post here.

[Sunking]

If this is the type of response I can expect from this site, I think I will search for a UK based forum.

Sorry i even bothered to post here.

Look to do what you want requires a 200 watt solar panel, 15 amp charge controller, and a 12 volt 75 Amp Hour battery. You cannot make it work with a 60 watt panel. If you do not like that answer, too bad. You simply do not have enough solar insolation. So go ahead and go somewhere else where they will tell you what you want to hear. But don't expect it to work.

[Naptown]

Hi.

I am looking to install solar lighting within a stable (United Kingdom). Have had a look at some ideas using a 60 Watt solar panel with 10A charge regulator.

Need 3 lights, so main question is could I use normal energy saving household bulb (3 x 20w - 60 watt) going through an inverter and if so what size battery would i need, say for 3 hours use per night)

If not would 12v 4watt LED (maximum of 6 bulbs) be ok to use directly of the the regulator, again what size battery for 3 hours use.

Many thanks for any help

You are still over the 60 watt winter insolation number (6x4x3) = 72 watt hours a day even using the LED lights.
Sunking is sometimes a bit abrupt but he will always give you the correct answer even if it is not the one you are looking for.
You will need a larger panel to do what you want to do is the bottom line or even further reduce the load.
We can't change the laws of physics we can only apply them to a particular situation and they always win.

[pcrodgers]

have you thought about getting solar lights? they sell them all over the place and if you stick with a credible company it may be more cost effective

[russ]

have you thought about getting solar lights? they sell them all over the place and if you stick with a credible company it may be more cost effective

Pardon?

[john p]

PCROGERS I think you will find horse stables have roofs over them.. Im not that knowlegable about stables but the ones we have in Australia have roofs over the stables. Dont know about where you live but here it tends to diminish the sunlight entering the stable therefore causing the solar cell on the solar light not to charge up its battery very well during the sunlight hours..

[russ]

He just felt an urgent need to post something.

[john p]

he doesnt have a toilet/comfort room ?/

[olddawg]

Hi.

I am looking to install solar lighting within a stable (United Kingdom). Have had a look at some ideas using a 60 Watt solar panel with 10A charge regulator.

Need 3 lights, so main question is could I use normal energy saving household bulb (3 x 20w - 60 watt) going through an inverter and if so what size battery would i need, say for 3 hours use per night)

If not would 12v 4watt LED (maximum of 6 bulbs) be ok to use directly of the the regulator, again what size battery for 3 hours use.

Many thanks for any help

Not certain what the use of the light is, but I have solar spot lights in my garage.
I have them set as motion sensitive, but can be just turned on.
These may not be what you need for they're meant to run for short periods of time.

I use them so I don't stumble around in the dark to get to the vehicle.
Down side is the panel that comes with them only trickle charges them and once drawn down, can take days to charge back up.
With that said, my panels are not in the best of locations.
Possibly if in the sun 'all day', they would be functioning better.

If your looking for light to get yourself around the stable, then, this could be a solution.
If you need them to stay on for 3 hrs constant, then, probably not.

These units are not cheap.
They run $80-$120 for the good ones and even they need some work to improve them.

I'm looking at rebuilding one of these spot lights to increase the battery life and time of use.
May not be something you'll want to dive into (cost of unit, panel and charge controller), then again...
I'm looking to hookup one of my 'project' panels (11watt) and build a charge controller.
Since the panels that come with the unit seem to only be 1watt panels, this would charge me back up quickly!

Would love to hear what you end up with!
If my system sounds like it would fit your needs, stay in contact and I'll let you know how I make out with the re-build.

[olddawg]

I saw the post of the solar mate point 5 and looked it up.

This is a nice little unit!

Cord seems a bit short, but depending on location of panel to light (or adding a longer wire) this is a great solution!

Great find!