My attempt at home interior lighting

[jason 77]

No, I do not. The method I am using is proprietary. Again let me say that I am using a copper heatsink attached to a plain FR-4 Printed Circuit Board. Something that can be easily fabricated - which I did on our dining room table.

James can you show/take pictures of this proprietary method you used, I am having a hard time picturing it in my mind?

BTW
has anyone seen/used plastic heatsinks...they do exist.

Dave Do you know where to find these plastic heat sinks?

 

[rodfran]

Hello James- cool project! Thanks for all the pics. How much run time on the lights per evening per daily charge? Also curious what solar panels you use?

 

[matrixshaman]

James - :twothumbs for all your work in this design. I think it's awesome you have this charging from solar and have remote control. This is all some wonderful stuff I'm hoping to get the time to do once I've finished building my home (almost done). Please don't be discouraged by the posts here that might seem like an attack on your design. I think we've got some serious fixed lightaholics here who are excited by your work but maybe want to show their knowledge in this area too. I'd really like to see everyone take a step back and realize just how much cool work James has done here so he is not discouraged in his work. While the posts may not have been intended as an 'attack' they do somewhat come off that way but I also realize we are all light geeks here that really want to get into all the technical stuff and sometimes don't think about how someone might take our comments.

I have a thought for you regarding batteries. If you can find a used car battery (often find them for $5 or less or even free) that can be salvaged (about 1/2 the ones I find can be reconditioned for lower current applications - meaning they don't have to pull 500+ Amps to start an engine) and you can locate it outside or in a garage where it's protected from rain then you'll be able to run a lot of lights off it. The main thing is it's cheap compared to gel cells if you can find a spot outside where the gases don't get into the house.

 

[Dave_H]

Dave Do you know where to find these plastic heat sinks?

I've been pulling heatsinks off old equipment for at least the last ~15 years
so have quite a collection...

I have a couple at work. They are Wakefield Deltem (TM) small square stick-on
heatsinks typically used on QFP and BGA packages. They call them "composite"
but I have not found a description of material. My cutting knife tells me it's
plastic with metal flakes, so not purely plastic, but looks like they could be
molded, likely for low cost.

Dave

 

[James Jackson]

rodfan - How much run time on the lights per evening per daily charge?

Good question. Using the recently retired 17Ah 12V SLA battery, which is about 3 years old, I was getting 2 to 3 hours of usage before the battery went down to about 12.4 volts - which is slightly lower than I like to go.

I now have a 35Ah 12V SLA wheelchair battery that I got on ebay. It's new, but evidently was stored for a while, and I am working it back to health. With a full-charge on the battery, I am able to get many hours of light out of it. I don't have an exact number right now, as I am still working on getting the battery back to a healthy condition.

rodfan - Also curious what solar panels you use?

That's the other part of the equation. With the 17Ah battery, I am using a 30-Watt Unisolar amorphous solar panel. This panel will provide a voltage to the charge controller even on overcast days.

However, with the switch-out to the larger 35Ah 12-v battery, I am going to upgrade the solar panel to a 68-watt Uni-solar flexible amorphous panel. This ought to provide enough of a charge to make the 35Ah battery happy.


The whole concept of this is to show that one can put in place a small LED lighting system - that is powered by a 12-volt battery - which can be recharged by a small solar panel.

A lot of folks say it can't be done. I've been doing it for 2-1/2 years with my first set of MR-16 LED lights - which works very well - but I'm progressing to where I am looking for more light than the 5-Watt LED modules could put out.


Another thought on the 35Ah battery. It's huge! The 17Ah battery just hung on the wall inside a 12-inch square by 4-inch deep electrical box. This 35Ah battery weighs 25 pounds, and is too large to just 'hang on the wall'. So - with that in mind, I've purchased an igloo ice chest, and put a plug on it. The battery and charge controller go inside, and I will route the wiring - from outside the house - to the existing electrical box, where it will get hooked up to the other wiring for the LED lights.

I am taking photos - and will post them later - which should help explain this.

One feature of this concept is that the 'power' is portable. The igloo has a handle on it, and I can unplug it from the house, and carry it with me off-site - along with another set of LightTubes - to illuminate some other venue. A basketball court, perhaps? You get the idea. Plus - I can take a portable solar panel, and set it up to recharge the battery in the day time - if necessary.

Like I have said previously. I am thinking this out - to be a whole system. One that is plug-n-play... and looks like something that you would buy commercially - not kludged together.


Another thought on the LED LightTubes. I am still experimenting with them. I have a white plastic tube that is diffused - not clear. I put it over the LightTubes. It cuts down on the light output a bit, but provides an even output of light. You can even look at the light fixture without going blind. Both my wife and I like it much better. I intend to continue to experiment with this... perhaps adding lenses with the plastic tube.

Regards,

James Jackson

 

[jason 77]

James can you go into more detail about the infrared controller box you made? Maybe showing the circuitry for it? Thanks

Great job by the way!

 

[James Jackson]

James can you go into more detail about the infrared controller box you made? Maybe showing the circuitry for it? Thanks

Great job by the way!

Jason,

Thanks for your positive words. The IR circuitry got real simple when I went to using the Basic Stamp for the controller. It's basically the type of IR component that you can get at Radio Shack - that puts out a digital signal.

The previous generation of this concept uses discrete components - and IC's - and we use one of these for our Amber porch light.

I tell you what. Going IR for switching the lights ON/OFF is the way to go. It eliminates wiring 'light switches' - which take up room and require wiring over to a convenient spot.

All we do with the porch light is turn it on with a handy IR remote in the house - so we can see down the porch and to the car - then once we are safe inside the vehicle, my wife grabs another remote that we keep in the car - aims it at the IR sensor - and presses a button - Viola! lights go off - and we are on our way.

If we come home at night - she grabs the remote - aims it at the sensor - and ON come the porch lights.

...

With the Basic Stamp controller, I have written the PBASIC code to add more functionality - like setting the LVD setpoints, and other features that make it intelligent.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

James Jackson