Shed lighting - battery or solar

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Shed lighting - battery or solar

mdf

mdf
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#300849 9-Oct-2022 12:32

I'm building a garden shed. It's just for storing gardening stuff and I'm not running power to it. Even lights are not really required, but I came across this DIY solar shed lighting and it seemed like a cool project. I've done LED lighting strip projects before but not the solar and battery management.

However this is likely to be overkill for the realistic use case - which is probably putting away stuff in the dark if I've left mowing the lawns too late in the day. So I'm wondering if I just stick some kind of battery light in there and call it done.

Thoughts?

Rikkitic

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#2979341 9-Oct-2022 12:38

Get an LED headlamp from the $2 shop, hang it on a nail inside the shed door, and be done with it.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

tweake

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#2979343 9-Oct-2022 12:46

i would not do just a straight battery light, for the simple reason they tend to get used, drained and then stuffed from low voltage. tho granted lith battery's now get around that. but otherwise they tend to get ignored and never work when you want it.

by mem i think theres small kits around. small solar panel with a lith cell and built in controller. you won't need much for a garden shed.

however check your shading. i had a setup that got to much shading and never really worked well.

tweake

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#2979344 9-Oct-2022 12:52

https://www.tradetested.co.nz/p/home-outdoor-living/solar-lights/garden-lighting/solar-lights/solar-light-garage-or-shed

this sort of thing is pretty common. all depends on how big is the shed.

davidcole

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#2979439 9-Oct-2022 13:18

I got from AliExpress a twin led 3v solar system. I took that apart and bought an $8 solar charger and a 12v battery sealed lead acid battery (alarm battery). Added a dc voltage converter and an old light switch.

So now I have a simple battery solar system. I used their solar panel and another slightly bigger one and it charges even through winter given it’s in a fairly dark part of my garden. I’m really happy with it.

Would love to make a bigger system to run my network cupboard off, even if it was only when the power went out.

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linw

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#2979879 10-Oct-2022 08:01

What's wrong with a torch?

davidcole

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#2979880 10-Oct-2022 08:10

linw:
What's wrong with a torch?

Depends if you need both hands to get whatever you need from the shed.

Also a small solar project like this is quite fun. I really enjoyed it.

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timmmay

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#2979898 10-Oct-2022 08:37

tweake:

https://www.tradetested.co.nz/p/home-outdoor-living/solar-lights/garden-lighting/solar-lights/solar-light-garage-or-shed

this sort of thing is pretty common. all depends on how big is the shed.

This look like a good, easy, cheap solution, though the 10cm cord between the solar panel and the LED looks a bit short! 240 lumens is about the power of a small, low powered flashlight, better than nothing. I have a torch that takes 8xAA that's about 1100 lumen, from memory, it's about 5 years old. Car headlights are typically 1000 - 3000 lumen, depending on the age of the car.

MikeAqua

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#2979931 10-Oct-2022 09:45

If it was me, I'd spend the money and put in some decent 12v LED lights and a solar-battery setup. It's a PITA trying to find something at night with a head torch or a cheap and weak fixed lighting. I'd like my shed to light up like stalag 13.

This is a project I need to do, although I'm thinking about an inverter for a couple of chargers as well.

Edit: I forgot to add I wouldn't use an SLA battery. They don't cope with deep discharging well. I'd go with LFP.

Mike

jonathan18

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#2979951 10-Oct-2022 10:49

This thread is reminding me my son is wanting light in a spare garden shed where he's set up his own workbench and tools etc; no chance of getting power there, so solar would probably be the best option.

That model on the Trade Tested website would be too dim for his purposes as it needs to be bright enough to work by, but has anyone got recommendations on the many options sold on Ali Express? I'm thinking something like this would work well in his shed (about 2x2m), but I'd welcome other suggestions and what to look for/avoid:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003297973320.html

MikeAqua

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#2979961 10-Oct-2022 11:21

jonathan18:

I'm thinking something like this would work well in his shed (about 2x2m), but I'd welcome other suggestions and what to look for/avoid:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003297973320.html

Looks like about 1800 lumens, if I'm reading correctly (and the stated specs are accurate), you have a 4m^2 work area. That's average of 450lm/m^2

For the workbench worksurface I'd be designing for >1,000 lm/m^2.

Mike

MikeAqua

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#2979973 10-Oct-2022 11:34

How about this for a simple system.

12vDC chargeable with an inbuilt inverter, 12v out and USB out. Looks like it would still require a solar controller.

Portable 155W Power Centre with 100W Inverter and Digital Display | Jaycar Electronics New Zealand

Mike