LED Lights

LED Lights can be directly powered by 10 to 30 volts DC and can be connected directly to any 12 or 24 volt power supply. Most are waterproof for external use. All are suitable for solar lighting.

How to choose LED lights for solar powered systems

There are 3 facts to consider

1. How bright the lighting needs to be. Two specifications tell you how bright a light is
   (A) The lumens produced
   (B) The spread of the light beam
   The lumens are the total amount of light produced but if the light has a wide beam of, say 180˚ then the total lumens will be spread over a wide area and will have less brightness than a similar light with the same lumens but a narrow beam of say, 60˚.
2. The power consumption. This is given in the specifications as the watts consumed (in the same way that a solar panel is rated according to the watts it produces). But because we are using a 12V battery to store the solar power we should also know the amps required by the light then we relate that directly to amp-hours (Ah) of battery capacity consumed. For instance a light that draws 1 amp will use 3Ah of battery if used for 3 hours
3. The light spectrum colour. Outdoors LED lighting looks brighter when the light is cool white colour but indoor lighting is less harsh when it is a warm white colour.

By using these three parameters you can make an educated decision about which LED lights to use for solar lighting.

How to Assess Light Brightness