On 5 Jan, 14:15, "dennis@home" wrote:
"Adam Aglionby" wrote in message

...



On 2 Jan, 15:59, Adrian wrote:
HI Folks

Another of those projects that's been on the back-burner for a while is
devising 'something' to finish off the stone-built gateposts at the
entrance to our place.

Suddenly - bright idea g - literally !

Considering making a couple of 'lanterns' with stained glass - powered
by solar-recharged high intensity leds (it's a long way to run a mains
cable down to the gates from the house).

Mostly for decoration (and for a bit of fun!) - not expecting
quartz-halogen-style illumination !

So - any recommendations for solar lighting kit that people have
actually used and found to be effective. I can see that prices range
from the ridiculously cheap up to 20 quid or so for something that's
probably a bit more useful like this from CPC

http://cpcireland.farnell.com/lloytr...hed-light/dp/L...

I'm guessing that the cheapest devices are going to have very
short-lived batteries in them... what's a sensible price-point for a
decent solar lighting kit ??

Thanks
Adrian

For the naysayers who say solar power is only good on the Equator ,
dont get much more north in the UK than northern tip of the Shetland
Isles or more mission critical than a lighthouse , Northern Lighthouse
Board have 121 solar powered lighthouses:

http://www.nlb.org.uk/ourlights/solarisation.htm

Smaller ones LED, bigger ones use 35W metal halide lamp not unrelated
to car headlight lamp. Very big solar arrays and batteries though.

Which ius a killer as far as being green goes.
It is a low maintenance reliable energy source they put in, not a green
solution as doing the maths will demonstrate.

Very true, embodied energy is probably quite lot higher than a 3
cylinder Lister, but a demonstration of the ability of PV arrays if
you have the budget.

If the OP is going to use batteries and LEDs then as they run for ages from
a couple of nicads I would do away with the charging bit and just charge
them in the house from a mains charger.. you know it makes sense.

Run a 24V line in reasonably heavy 2 core, speaker cable is good,
then tap off for path lights and gatepost lights as required. LED with
appropriate drivers or resistors at each point, 24V usually means that
V drop at currents involved is negligible up to few `00metres. Add
dusk and PIR sensors to taste.

Adam