12V low voltage Track lighting?

[Weylan]

I am Planning a fixed lighting project.

I was considering lighting a room using 12V track lighting for a room that is 15 x 40 with a single track down the center of the room. I was planning of using 4 11Watt 12V lights. And maybe 4x 3 cree lights.

I was considering using Solar power to power the track lighting most of the time. A simple PV system charging batteries, and the Track lighting tied to the batteries.

I can then use 12V compact florescent lights or alternate with LED lights for limited lighting as necessary.

Can any one help me in knowing they have done this?

Can any one tell me some of the restrictions on of the 12V track lighting? Like are most of the commercial 12V Low Voltage lighting systems AC 12V or are they DC?
Are the fixtures available going to be a problem?

Advantages:
If I do this, this way I can run off of solar power some times.
For extended power, I can, if possible run the system from the standard 12V track lighting transformer.
Normal 12V MR bulbs are very spot light, and florecents are more flood light.
Normal MR bulbs get really warm, and summer time this can be an issue. Less heat and more light is better.
I like white (cool white, is better for me the warm incandescent yellow light).
Disadvantages:
Low voltage fixtures are more unique and harder to come by so my options are less.

 

[James Jackson]

Well... I'm not sure if my input to this will help you much...

Right now - and for the last 8 months - I have been using a track-lighting system - with 3 5-watt LED MR-16 base LEDs.

This is lighting up a living area that is about 16-feet wide by about 20-feet long.

I am powering this - using a 12-volt 17aH battery that is charged in the day time with a 21-watt solar panel. I am using a small charge-controller to charge the battery.

I have found that I am able to use this system about 4.5 to 5 hours per day before the battery voltage drops to around 12.1 or so volts.

What you are trying to do is possible - you may just need a larger battery and solar panel to accomplish it.

Regards,

James Jackson
Oztronics

 

[SafetyBob]

I did something somewhat close to your project. I installed 6 Northstar leds in ceiling of the hallway in the house for night lighting for everyone walking around at night in the house. Grandma, teenagers up late, and early rising wife used it instead of turning on big hallway lights and waking everyone up.

I wanted them to come on at 5pm and go off at 8am. This is done by X10 control. I have provisions up in the attic to attach solar power via battery if I chose to upgrade, for now I have regulated 12 volt power supply powering these leds which already have resistors embedded in packaging. One, two, ten or twenty....all need 12 VDC max and that is it. I did install a PWM switch to control brightness and have found that I use about 50% power most of the time. Full power is just a little to bright. I do have a sealed lead acid battery that gets automatically charged (battery tender jr) when the lights are not on. Relays are also set that in the event of a power failure the lights come on. Fan cooling too up there for the summer too.

As I recall you should be able to purchase controls so that if solar is insuffient that street power comes online and powers lighting and/or charges up battery too. Your project is very much able to be done. I would suggest you figure out how you want things powered first. I suggest solar first to charge battery and run lights first with battery, street power, and then make provisions for street power to charge battery during cloudy days. Don't deplete your battery much below I think 10.5 volts...as I recall it really hurts them. Finding a good solar power forum/web site should help you in this area. Somebody has a good online magazine that is very helpful too, I just can't remember the name right now.

Bob E.

 

[FrontRanger]

Can any one tell me some of the restrictions on of the 12V track lighting? Like are most of the commercial 12V Low Voltage lighting systems AC 12V or are they DC?<BR>Are the fixtures available going to be a problem?

I have only seen 12V DC systems for track lighting. There may be AC powered systems, but I believe the 12V DC versions have been most common, since they allow the use of the 12V Halogen bulbs that are widely available and come in a range of brightnesses and beam widths. For getting street power to the fixture: Until recently, LCK LED used to sell a transformer that could take 90 to 250 V AC input and deliver 12 V DC output (at 1.5 A). I checked the website recently and all I could find was the 100-pack.