Solar Lighting

I’ve been waiting for someone to answer your question….

I’m from NSW so I can’t hep you but best bet is to Google search in your area ….or the Yellow Pages.

Sorry.

Where do those extra letters come from. when I use the keyboard. (Fat fingers)

Way to go Dabbler, see how good the net is?

The site looks good, have fun.

Could you explain what you actually mean by "Solar Lighting"?

Are you trying to to use solar panels to generate power for your lighting
Are you trying to emulate the colour spectrum of the sun
Are you trying to find low power lighting
Are you looking for all in one units (solar panel/battery/led)

Thanks
3timesbuilda

The major hardware chains stock a limited range of garden solar lights but the lighting specialists don't seem to be interested (maybe there isn't a big enough market for them yet).

Last week I saw 12 for about $50.00 or less at Bunnings. I'm not sure about the quality though.

- devank

Try the http://www.solarshop.com.au/

Be aware that buying panels and batteries is not a cheap exercise and just using a normal car battery is not going to last a long time.

Dedicated solar system batteries are expensive and will last 10 to 20 years, where a car batery will give maybe 5, and batteries need to be properly maintenaned in a solar environment.

I'm all for the free electricity, and pumping it back into the grid, but I think there are some "less expensive options that will still do it for us without the expense of batteries etc.

and hey lets face it, the electricity grid is installed and existing to suburbs etc, why build our own home generating systems with batteroies for lots of bucks to "maybe" save some money or be able to leave the lights on never ending.

Long term the numbers for a solar system in an urban environment are just not there yet. Will they ever be. Hmm maybe.

But if for instance you're like my sister who has just bought a block of land in FNQ and they were quoted $50K just to have a power line run to the house site, (Yes it is semi rural) and the supply contract stated that if it the lines ever blew down or the company decided to not supply for any reason, then that was it.

So they went solar for $40K and are totally self sufficient, with a petrol generator so they can run the welder when they want, but the house will be totally solar otherwise.

Case justified.

Doing that at home in a suburb? Well thats a lot of power bills you've got save up

Personaly I'm looking at spending about $6K on a generating system (no batteries) which will give me enough house power for my use, and I can sell it back to the grid if i'm not using it, or buy more from the grid if I need it.

Modern life but also doing what I can to ease the environment.

But first up I taking 12 months to work out my annual power usage, so I know what size generation unit I need for a zero power bill house if possible.

Steve

Yak Chat,

$6k for, presumably, a solar electric system sounds very cheap.

And why wait 12 months to work out your annual power usage. Just look through your old bills.

For reference, our hosuehold uses on average 10 kWhr per day. We're fairly standard users, but rarely use heating or airconditioning. I figure a 2 to 3 peak kW solar system should do our household when the time comes. It will be fed into the grid, but we shoudl break about even on usage. With the governemt giving us (upto?) $8k for a solar electric system, I think I wil inlcude it in my new house.

Cheers,
Casa

Solar lighting is hardly worth it. Low voltage lighting uses so little power anyway. I know of a range of low voltage lights which can run bulbs as low as 5w (although 20w is more common). Even a 5w bulb gives more light than any solar unit I've seen! Also, you can switch it on and off when needed.

One day, solar might take over, but until then, simply use low voltage lighting with low wattage bulbs.

Note well - Low Voltage does not lower energy consumption! It is a common misnomer. A 12V 50W bulb uses no less energy than a 240V 50W bulb. In fact it probably uses a bit more due to losses in the transformer from 240V to 50W.

I'm happy to help explain further if necessary.

Derek.

Actually, those packages from Bunnings aren't really all that bad. They are el cheapo, plastic, fragile and all the other bad things, but.... I bought a pack of five, threw away the really cheap rechargable batties they come with and replaced them with quality ones, and put them along my driveway. The aren't enough to illuminate the whole drive, but as markers in the dark, they are great. My numpty son, who couldn't reverse in the dark if his life depended on it hasn't run off the driveway once since I put them in. They come on as it gets dark and fade away after about 5 hours. By the next night they are charged again.