solar powered lights as emegency light

[badkuk]

Just thinking outside the box: the idea is to place a small solar powered LED light indoors; under normal conditions, you have the lights turned on, and the LED light gets charged. When there's a brownout, the LED light goes on.

Apparently indoor light isn't quite enough to power up the LED light...but the device i tested with had four LED bulbs. i'm thinking about getting one of those single LED bulb solar powered lawn lights, baka gumana coz there's only one bulb?

i know i can just get an emergency light and be done with it...pero as i said, just thinking a bit out of the box :0

[oj88]

Conventionally, solar power is used to charge a storage device (battery, in our case) and the battery in turn is used to light up the LED. Is this what you're trying to achieve? Or are you trying to light up the LED straight from a solar panel using indoor lighting?

Domestic indoor lighting is nowhere nearly as bright as sunlight so it's not used for anything other than say, turning on calculators or charge wristwatches. These things requires only a few microamps to work. However, a typical LED (not the ones used as indicators, but rather, those white ones that are suitable for illumination) requires a minimum of 50 to 100mA or more. As an example, a 1W LED requires around 330mA*3V.

A commercially available 3V/270mA solar panel is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Although, it is rated as such, this is so at ideal conditions (ie. facing right smack at the sun, at noon, and in clear weather). To be able to produce the same amount of power indoors would require a larger panel. But then, you'll run into cost-benefit and practical issues with such approach.

Now, let's go back to being clear on what you want to achieve.

[Walter]

You can buy a solar panel light set for about 6T. Package includes solar panel, battery and 4 LED lights. They're available in Ongpin and Raon shops.

[ghosthunter]

Just thinking outside the box: the idea is to place a small solar powered LED light indoors; under normal conditions, you have the lights turned on, and the LED light gets charged. When there's a brownout, the LED light goes on.

Apparently indoor light isn't quite enough to power up the LED light...but the device i tested with had four LED bulbs. i'm thinking about getting one of those single LED bulb solar powered lawn lights, baka gumana coz there's only one bulb?

i know i can just get an emergency light and be done with it...pero as i said, just thinking a bit out of the box :0

Solar garden lights is not bright enough to light up any area bigger than a square foot in area.

If you want emergency lighting for the whole room/house, why not check your circuit breaker's wiring and see if a particular breaker is wired to LIGHTS ONLY to particular rooms. If it's lights only, you can install a UPS on that room's lights power-line so you can have the normal room lights powered up even when the power goes out. Of course, this is only good for the an hour or two until the UPS battery runs out.

[badkuk]

Conventionally, solar power is used to charge a storage device (battery, in our case) and the battery in turn is used to light up the LED. Is this what you're trying to achieve? Or are you trying to light up the LED straight from a solar panel using indoor lighting?

Domestic indoor lighting is nowhere nearly as bright as sunlight so it's not used for anything other than say, turning on calculators or charge wristwatches. These things requires only a few microamps to work. However, a typical LED (not the ones used as indicators, but rather, those white ones that are suitable for illumination) requires a minimum of 50 to 100mA or more. As an example, a 1W LED requires around 330mA*3V.

A commercially available 3V/270mA solar panel is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Although, it is rated as such, this is so at ideal conditions (ie. facing right smack at the sun, at noon, and in clear weather). To be able to produce the same amount of power indoors would require a larger panel. But then, you'll run into cost-benefit and practical issues with such approach.

Now, let's go back to being clear on what you want to achieve.

Basically i was thinking about using solar powered LED lights as emergency lights for the home. e.g. under normal conditions, we'd have the lights turned on at night -- i was hoping that indoor lighting would be enough to charge the solar powered lights -- then, when a blackout hits, the lights go out, and the solar powered LED lights kick in. Doesn't matter that it only lasts a few minutes, just enough for you to reach the nearby flashlight and/or get out of the house.

Thanks for the explanation sir, seems malabo nga tong mangyari

*sir gh: interesting suggestion sir, but i was hoping for something a little simpler

Nabad trip din kasi ako sa mga emergency lights. i forked up around 1.4k++ for a rebranded China-made LED emergency light, wala pang isang taon, sira na. Then i forked up another 1k++ for a local but reputable brand(at least yung ibang appliances nila), ganun din.

heck, i may just bite the bullet and buy the Philips unit at Ace

[oj88]

^^Switching to LED lamps will prolong the backup power, but not as much. UPS's aren't very efficient. It requires a significant amount of parasitic power to keep the transistors in the inverter circuitry firing.

[oj88]

---snip---

Nabad trip din kasi ako sa mga emergency lights. i forked up around 1.4k++ for a rebranded China-made LED emergency light, wala pang isang taon, sira na. Then i forked up another 1k++ for a local but reputable brand(at least yung ibang appliances nila), ganun din.

heck, i may just bite the bullet and buy the Philips unit at Ace

Usually, the only thing that breaks down in emergency lights are the batteries. These units are plugged-in 24/7 and the batteries are pretty much trickle-charged indefinitely. It is safe to assume that the batteries are relatively over-charged all the time so it stands to reason that the batteries will get used up or experience wear and tear whether or not the emergency light was used or not. Parang auto insurance or HMO... you pay for the premium whether or not you make a claim.

It's actually a necessity to check the condition of the batteries every month (ie. unplug it and see if it can provide lighting for at least 30 minutes) and replace the same when they've been degraded.

[badkuk]

Usually, the only thing that breaks down in emergency lights are the batteries. These units are plugged-in 24/7 and the batteries are pretty much trickle-charged indefinitely. It is safe to assume that the batteries are relatively over-charged all the time so it stands to reason that the batteries will get used up or experience wear and tear whether or not the emergency light was used or not. Parang auto insurance or HMO... you pay for the premium whether or not you make a claim.

It's actually a necessity to check the condition of the batteries every month (ie. unplug it and see if it can provide lighting for at least 30 minutes) and replace the same when they've been degraded.

Sorry forgot to mention: in both cases, OK naman yung battery:

China made unit - one of the lights wold "flicker" while charging. i get the feeling that something's shorted out inside
Locally made unit - replaced the battery, still wouldn't work. Baka nadale sa overcharging(although the unit's supposed to have overcharge protection)

[12vdc]

^ The switching circuit is the problem, usually its semiconductor controlled or triac. Problem with commercial emergency lights is that you need to periodically check/replace the batteries, and that adds to your home maintenance routine. The old system use 6V VRLA batteries in 6V lightning, while newer LED emergency lights use 4V batteries that is not common in the grocery. As long as the emergency light is plugged, batteries tend to wear fast because most commercial charger are poorly designed, add to that VRLA wants cool environments for them to last.

If you are a DIYer, you can just buy a DPDT relay, it comes in AC powered that can be mounted in a rail. At normal condition when there is commercial power, relay is energized and the contacts going to the emergency lightning is disconneted. When commercial power turns off, relay contacts will go to normally-closed state activating the emergency light. You will be needing a used car battery or any VRLA rated atleast 40AH, 12V Led lights(common to automotive applications)-or a flourescent tube with cheap electronic ballast(similar to what autos and bus use). Charge the battery every month for about 4hours.

Going DIY has some bonus...
For prolonged blackouts, you may run a wire going to your car.
CDRKing automotive inverters can be wired too if you want to charge mobile phones.
Connect a 12V solar charging sytem..
Simple and endless possibilities.

BTW, I have this in the farm and house in the province, its running for 5+yrs batteries just wont die.

[ghosthunter]

*sir gh: interesting suggestion sir, but i was hoping for something a little simpler

For those totally lazy from doing DIY .... there is the screw-in type emergency light.



FOR MORE INFO: AE Light EmergiBulb LED Emergency Light Bulb, 6000K, Clear Lens - KnifeCenter

I have seen local LED lighting companies selling similar products so this is already available in the local market. Just a matter of finding a store that has it.

[yebo]

If you want your emergency lights to last longer then what you can do is to unplug them. Ok, i know, it is no longer an emergency light when it is unplugged. But you can always turn them On manually when needed. I keep our emergency lights unplugged, turn them on to totally discharge the batteries once every 4-6 months (discharging at high output takes 36 hours) then charge them up again. Once they are fully charged i unplug them again.

[mrsmcm28]

our company is having a sale of our Mobiya LED Lamp, this is a very nice solar light with mobile phone charger very useful sya last year samin during brownouts, you can pm me for the price

[badkuk]

If the emergency light will be plugged in all times, what type of battery is recommended, lead acid or Lithium ion?
Of course lead acid is cheaper, but yearly ata ang palitan niyan. Yung lithium should last longer, so long as it isn't drained down to 0, and always charged?

[dr. d]

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my beef with rechargeable emergency lights... is that you will probably need them when there is no electricity.. so how will you charge 'em? keep them charged at all times? by experience, that ain't easy.
personally, i prefer dry cell-powered emergency lights. the dry cells last over a year with nary a fuss. and they are easy to buy..

[yebo]

Better to have both. Just be religious in discharging and recharging the batteries of the emergency lights once every 3-4 months. Also there are models that you can charge from a car outlet.

Duracel and eveready now have batteries that have 10 year shelf lives. Check the label. And also avoid units that use "C" size battery as this is hard to find in stores. Mostly they stock only AAA, AA and D.

[dr. d]

i have "C" adaptors.. i put my AAs in the C adaptors.
what i don't like are the gadgets that use 3 dry cells.. an odd number.. palaging may sobra o may kulang sa binili ko...

[Morz]

I also keep a mini flashlight in the car not the rechargeable type. But I keep the batterries separately to keep it fresh. Was using a rechargeable type before but after some time it was already discharged when I needed to use it.

[Pidel Polano]

you can use flash light with LED type

[sirkosero]

ako may dalang portable inverter sa kotse and extension cords.

kahit brownout may tv, electric fan at ilaw ako

[kagalingan]

Saan nga ulit sa manila yung bentahan ng solar powered lights. Ano yung sikat. Kasi kailanga ko bigyan yung mga outpost na walang kuryente. Nilalamok daw sila sa gabi.