Large Scale Central

Landscape Lighting

General Discussion
#1

I am in the process of designing a landscaping lighting system for the garden railroad. The objective is to use 12 volt LED water proof lights, low voltage wiring, 12 volt marine deep cycle battery, solar panel and solar charger/regulator. The water proof lights came from Amazon.com (~$12.00 + shipping) and draw ~0.8 amps maximum @ 12 volts and there will be a total of 20 lights for a maximum total of 16 amps.

Question - does anyone have a manufacturer recommendation for a 12v solar panel and charger/regulator?

Thanks
Jerry

#2

Mightymule.com. They make solar powered gate openers using just the system you describe, deep draw marine battery and solar refresh.

#3

Also look at Camping World (campingworld.com) for solar battery charging systems.

#4

Jon Radder said:

Also look at Camping World (campingworld.com) for solar battery charging systems.

Yep and Bass Pro Shop sells them as well for boaters

#5

I believe harbor freight has them as well.

#6

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I’ll check those sources out…

Jerry

#7

Home Depot or Lowes might have them also, I got one a few years ago from one of those box stores

#8

Mark, Lowe’s has the lighting fixtures and wire, but I haven’t seen any respectable solar charger there. They do have self contained solar lights, but that’s not what Jerry was looking for.

A few years back Harbour Freight had a 45 watt solar panel “kit”. It was the panel, a battery charger and inverter to supply 120vac from the battery. I am not sure if the battery was included or not.

#9

Jerry said that he was going to use a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery. Of the solutions mentioned, this one, #6 is the only one up to the task.

#10

The harbor freight 3 panel solar set would work really well and is low cost. I have a set of three panels mounted on a garden cart and use it as a source of power on areas of my land where there is no power. Using an inverter I can power electric tools, or charge Lithium ION batteries for my battery tools. I also have used it to charge my battery packs for my trains. I have had it for five years now and it has been trouble free. I used two 12 volt standard auto batteries in parallel just because I had them handy.