At such an early point in time for new designs of solar-powered lighting (mid-2014), I imagine that the ideal garden and security lights will have larger solar panels for faster charging and current regulators to prevent overcharging when larger batteries are fully-charged before dusk each day.
Rather than have a system that relies on 8 hours of constant, direct sunlight, which is impossible in many temperate countries, it would be better to fully charge batteries in about 4 hours of direct sunlight, This would enable solar panels to be positioned in between trees and buildings where a short duration of direct sunlight goes - especially when there are scattered clouds overhead!
With the world's weather being what it is above and below the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, windpower can back up solar power, but even then, there are often days, which only tide power can help! These three types combined would provide seemingly-endless power in coastal areas!
A sugar shaker LED lights in a
sugar shaker A light meter
Buy a stainless steel sugar shaker from a cheap retail store, then remove the screen and cap. Now design and build supports, then assemble the parts! The brightness on the light meter was obtained from 18" or 45 cm below the lamp. (Click each one to enlarge them.)
That can vary greatly with different power supplies and positioning, and has actually dropped to about 110 lux after pulsing two sets of LEDs alternately through a 555 timer at more than 50 flashes per second, but the meter reads 26 mA, not the full 110 for two sets of LEDs in parallel!
Please don't ask me to make you one as they aren't cost-effective. Camping lights are brighter - and cheaper to buy! In fact, you can have fun looking at ...on Facebook!my torch collection!
Sign-up or log-in is not required to view these photos because the page is Public.
Still, 140 lumens is not bad for two strips of 3-LED strip rated at 36 lumens each! This is double the brightness because some of the light is reflected off the insides of the sugar can, and makes this experimental project about 14 foot-candles instead of 9 for one strip of 3 LEDs with the lamps 18" or 45 cm above a working space.
A cheap retail box
for whatever reason Good light from one metre
above a bathroom basin
Battery-operated
table lamp (background)
A downlight originally for the bathroom! It has aluminium foil inside (left).
(Click on photos to enlarge them.)
An automotive worklight
Just right for
white keyboards
I don't need bright light
beyond my field of vision
"Look, Ma - no grid power!" This is actually a rechargeable worklight, which I can
remove from the ceiling and take anywhere. (Click on the left two to enlarge them.)
The lamp holder is a piece of downpipe that swivels, but I have brighter
grid and battery lights over the bench as well. (Click on the left-hand photo.)
For those who are interested in the more technical side of designing, I did some experimenting here, making more than one set of lights flash to increase battery life -
Check out the Click on the link
inside this oneFrequency Test here!
LED strip off LED strip on
Just muckin' about with a new strip of warm white LEDs! (Click each one to enlarge)
Super light circuit Illumination test Location test
My new super light for the office, which is still being fine-tuned!
The history of my office illumination goes something like -
From
Incandescent light globe (probably 100-Watts in 1984)
I'm not sure about anything in between!
2 x 20-Watt fluorescent tubes (for many years)
14-Watt compact fluorescent lamp (last year)
6-Watt LED globe (this year)
30-LED (3-volt, 3.3 A/H) work light (recently)
3 x Cree LED (converted) camping light (recently)
to
10 strips of 3 blocks with 3 LEDs each and 90 dots total
(see right photo above and all of the photos below)
3 LED blocks per strip
As bright as it gets
The 12-volt downlight
rail came next
3 LED blocks per strip Brightness I hung it on a rail to position it!
Light track Light track Light track Light track Ilumination details
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