Can anyone recommend some 12v panel or strip lights for my prefab concrete garage....but must be able to run off a 12v car battery as i don't have power.

Even in the daytime i'd still need to use the lights as its pretty dark in there.

I plan to paint the walls white to assist with daytime use

Cheers

N1

How about solar panels to power some lights

quote:

---

Originally posted by jacko
How about solar panels to power some lights

---

Some of the strip lights are VERY bright now, for example https://www.ukledlights.co.uk/product/warm-white-led-strip-3000k-24v-ip20-waterproof-240-leds-m-5-metre/ (no, I haven't used that particular stuff but I have used similar a few years ago, not as bright)

I fitted LED battens (like fluorescent tubes) in my garage. OK, they are 240V, but each tube is just a length of that strip stuff in a plastic tube, and very bright.

Some of the strip lights are VERY bright now, for example https://www.ukledlights.co.uk/product/warm-white-led-strip-3000k-24v-ip20-waterproof-240-leds-m-5-metre/ (no, I haven't used that particular stuff but I have used similar a few years ago, not as bright)

I fitted LED battens (like fluorescent tubes) in my garage. OK, they are 240V, but each tube is just a length of that strip stuff in a plastic tube, and very bright.

You're not limited to 12V ones if you pop in a wee cheapie inverter, they're about 20 quid now and great for constant load scenarios like lights and heaters.

How far between your house and garage?

Feasible to have an electric feed taken from the house to the garage?

Might not be as pricey as you think and could give you lights and sockets.

Thanks for the replies Chaps. I will try and cover the points raised.



The garage is 50m from the house so running power to it would be hard as there are footpaths and municipal car park etc and is a prefab concrete with a probable asbestos roof so replacing with clear roofing is a great idea but would cost a fair bit due to the asbestos.

12V inverter.....i didn't even consider it as an option. I don't know much about this so would need to do some research.

Solar panels..... Again a good idea but then what else is required? Big batteries to store the energy produced? I thought by using a spare car battery i can bring it inside and charge as and when needed.

The LED strips are an option so will do some digging

quote:

---

Originally posted by number-1
a probable asbestos roof so replacing with clear roofing is a great idea but would cost a fair bit due to the asbestos.

---

The garage is owned so no issues there. The issue i see is having to empty the garage before i do the work. I think my LA are the same and take double wrapped sheets at the local tip

Maybe i can get it tested to see if it actually is asbestos?

[Edited on 24/7/24 by number-1]

For over 10 years now I have been using a solar panel, voltage regulator a small 12 volt battery and led lights in my shed (10' x 10'. About 5 years ago I upgraded the system using 3 watt 6" long DRL's sold on ebay at £5 for 6. At the same time the solar panel was changed for a 500mm x 400mm one which cost £22 off ebay together with a £12 charge regulator which has two USB outputs. I kept the old gel 12v 10ah battery from an alarm system. I have to say it is brilliant! The DRL's put out an amazing amount of light and 4 would do but I will leave the 6 stuck to the flat roof facing down and have overkill. Never had the battery run down. The USB's power a radio as well. For a garage I would do the same but would probably use a second hand old solar panel and maybe a bigger car battery that has come from a car (I have an AGM one from my stop start car that is no longer up to stop start but is otherwise fine). The regulators are around for £10 - £20 on ebay and Amazon and can take quite a load.

For a long time now I've used an old car battery with 2, 20W solar panels and controller to provide lighting in a shed, originally with DRLs but now small LED strip lights, it also ran an old car radio/CD player.

Thanks for the replies

I am liking the solar idea but dont know enough about how it works. Will the solar panels provide enough energy to charge the battery if it is low or will it just keep it topped up?

Removing the asbestos panels and using clear corrugated is still an idea for daytime use too so thanks for the idea

What don't you understand about the line - Never had the battery run down.

If you look at your similar post in Sept 2022 you may also find the answer there

[Edited on 26-7-24 by ianhurley20]

Sorry for the late reply

I don't understand the specifics of what i would need to be able to top up a battery if i was to say use if during the winter for 6 hours in the dark evenings. Most of the smaller panels ive seen are designed for a camper van window, for example, and are only designed to keep it topped up and not charge it.

Is it easier to forget the solar in this case and bring the battery inside once a week and charge it up or will a solar panel, regulator etc be suitable?

The post from 22 was keeping the car battery charged when not in use so thought it would require different set ups and kit to actually charging a battery from solar

Topping up and charging are the same thing, but they can be done differently. Some panels output 12v nominal and as the battery raises to 13v the panel is taken outside its operating regime so automatically stops overcharging (awful system design, and likely to fail). Others need a regulator, which is the proper way to do it and they're available for single digit pounds.

If you use 100W of lighting for 4 hours you've used 400Wh of energy. You pulled it from a battery being charged by a panel. The panel might be a 50W rated panel and thus you need 8 hours at full sun intensity* to recharge the 400Wh you used.

*It's not that simple - the panels will not provide 50W across all operating voltages and obviously you don't necessarily have full illumination. And in winter, you have about 6 hours sun vs summer 12. So the trick is to use a solar battery charger to ensure the panel is operated at it's max power point at all times while charging, and also to buy more panel area than you expect.

But first you need to know how much lighting you need.

I think solar is the way to go, but I do have a vested interest in solar arrays

[Edited on 1/8/2024 by coyoteboy]