12v 5w LED light Solar/Battery source ?

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  • May 24, 2012 at 12:00 AM #66376
    JMill
    Participant

    Apostle40,

    To determine your current from the voltage and wattage you divide the wattage by the voltage, i.e. Current = Wattage/voltage => Current = 5W/12V = 0.416 Amps or 416 mA.

    Your small Solar charger could run about 24 of these LED bulbs. Your standard car battery could run a lot more of these. Your six solar panels in a 12V configuration should supply 600 mA of current (assuming the rating of 6V and 200mA was per panel and not the total of all six panels), which you should also be able to run your one LED bulb from.

    Your best soution would be to run your bulb from the car battery and use either of your solar sources to charge the battery. If your solar charger is made to charge batteries that would be your best bet as it probably has protection to prevent over charging your battery.

    Good Luck!

    May 24, 2012 at 12:00 AM #66379
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi,

    Thankyou for your reply.

    When I say Solar Panel I was meaning Solar cell’s. :)

    And yes the Solar charger has inputs for the Panel/Battery and output to Light.

    Cheers

    May 24, 2012 at 12:00 AM #63114
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi,

    First time poster and keen to get a very small project off the ground.

    I have zero knowledge of Electrical systems.

    I have a 12v 5w LED edison light bulb.

    What would I need to be able to power this Light Bulb ?

    To be honest I went and bought a few things not really knowing what I was doing… 8P.

    I have 6 Solar panels that are rated 6volt 200mA.

    I’ve wired them into a 12V configuration.

    I also have a small Solar battery charger rated at 12/24volts 10amps.

    I also have a standard 12v DC Car battery.

    Should this be enough to power the LED Light Bulb ?

    What should be the correct calculations to determine correct power source etc ?

    Thanks in advance..

    Apostle40

    May 26, 2012 at 12:00 AM #66387
    elnav
    Member

    Apostle40 to get a better idea of how 12 V systems are put together find a book on RV or boat wiring. These books will give you the basics of DC circuits for power and light. Many of the better books also include the formula for calculating the wire sizes needed for longer wire runs as well as the kind of wire cinstruction and insulation. Like everything else technical ther are many factors involved in putting together a safe, reliable system. i know of one person who killed himself when he short circuited a 12V line and the toxic fumes overcame him before he could take 4 steps to the open door.

    The problem, he bought cheap wire at a discount store and failed to install proper fusing to protect the wire in case of an accidental short circuit.

    Ther are books on Off-grid but they are fewer so chances are better in finding RV or boat books dealing with 12V wiring and the subject is essentially the same when it comes to basics.

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