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Home > Archive > Alternative Power sources > February 2006 > LED Solar Light
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| Philip F. Cohen 2006-01-05, 1:21 am |
| I've been reading about new LED lightbulbs which evidently
now approximate a 40 watt incadescent lightbulb, but
which only require 3 watts of power. The link below is
from Citizen, a Japanese electronic company.
http://brightsidetech.com/newslette...LED_CL-L100.pdf
My question is that eventually most LED lights or cold compact
fluorescents shortly will be capable of replacing
60-100 watts incandescents, and while the initial costs for
the bulbs would be high, they should drop dramatically and
approach the cost of compact fluorescents. Wouldn't it
be reasonable to run most of these low wattage lights
off a solar or fuel cell source. In fact, it seems to me
that with 40 watts of light, these would make excellent
garden or accent lights outdoors. Is the battery
technology advanced enough to run these lights
off solar cells. I'd be interested in others thoughts
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| Anthony Matonak 2006-01-05, 5:21 am |
| Philip F. Cohen wrote:
> I've been reading about new LED lightbulbs which evidently
> now approximate a 40 watt incadescent lightbulb, but
> which only require 3 watts of power. The link below is
> from Citizen, a Japanese electronic company.
>
> http://brightsidetech.com/newslette...LED_CL-L100.pdf
First off, it's an advertising sheet and therefore the numbers
can be highly suspect. I'll believe it when they actually sell
the product and it's gone through some kind of independent test.
That said, according to their sheet the LED is roughly equivalent
in efficiency to fluorescents. This means the 3.5W LED would
produce as much light as a 3.5W fluorescent or 14W incandescent.
To approximate a 40W incandescent it would require 10W using these,
if they actually perform to advertised specs.
> My question is that eventually most LED lights or cold compact
> fluorescents shortly will be capable of replacing
> 60-100 watts incandescents, and while the initial costs for
> the bulbs would be high, they should drop dramatically and
> approach the cost of compact fluorescents.
Compact fluorescents already are a direct replacement for less
efficient incandescents in the 40-150W range and they make them
in 12V, 24V, and 48V DC versions as well. Some of the more popular
models can be purchased for as little as $2 each which makes them
fairly affordable.
> Wouldn't it
> be reasonable to run most of these low wattage lights
> off a solar or fuel cell source. In fact, it seems to me
> that with 40 watts of light, these would make excellent
> garden or accent lights outdoors. Is the battery
> technology advanced enough to run these lights
> off solar cells. I'd be interested in others thoughts
Electricity from fuel cells is horrendously expensive, more
especially since they don't really have any fuel cells in the
10W size outside research labs. For that matter, they don't
really have any fuel cells outside of research labs no matter
what the size. You might consider pint sized nuclear reactors
as long as you are limiting yourself to nearly unobtainable
power sources regardless of cost.
PV is more affordable in the sense that it's only very expensive.
Batteries have come a long way, though you're probably going to
find lead acid to be the most affordable for stationary use.
Lastly, who wants a 40W garden accent light? The current models
are several orders of magnitudes less bright.
Anthony
| |
| Steve Spence 2006-01-05, 10:21 am |
| Philip F. Cohen wrote:
> I've been reading about new LED lightbulbs which evidently
> now approximate a 40 watt incadescent lightbulb, but
> which only require 3 watts of power. The link below is
> from Citizen, a Japanese electronic company.
>
A 3 watt LED cannot replace a 40 watt Incandescent on a lumen/watt
basis. In lumen output it would replace a 3 watt incandescent at best,
but for focused task lighting is much more appropriate than a 40 watt
incandescent.
--
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html
| |
| Derek Broughton 2006-01-05, 11:21 am |
| Anthony Matonak wrote:
> Electricity from fuel cells is horrendously expensive, more
> especially since they don't really have any fuel cells in the
> 10W size outside research labs. For that matter, they don't
> really have any fuel cells outside of research labs no matter
> what the size.
That's not really true - Ballard was running buses in Calgary on their fuel
cells 5 years or more ago. Not available for retail sale, but still
outside the research lab.
--
derek
| |
| Steve Spence 2006-01-05, 12:21 pm |
| Derek Broughton wrote:
> Anthony Matonak wrote:
>
>
>
>
> That's not really true - Ballard was running buses in Calgary on their fuel
> cells 5 years or more ago. Not available for retail sale, but still
> outside the research lab.
But investment funded, so it wasn't market supported. It was a mobile
research lab. Takes a whole lot of rich riders to support a multimillion
dollar fuel cell and $6-$10 / gallon GGE fuel.
--
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html
| |
|
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| Anthony Matonak 2006-01-05, 10:21 pm |
| William P.N. Smith wrote:
> Anthony Matonak <anthonym40@nothing.like.comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
> Except for http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/12/30/fuelcells_ces_jadoo/
From the cited webpage...
: No specifications or pricing has been announced for the new
: prosumer system, but it's safe to say that it won't be cheap.
Ok, one company has just started selling fuel cells at very
high prices to "professionals" and may sell to ordinary mortals
soon.
I admit my knowledge on the topic is clearly that much out of date.
Anthony
| |
| RoughRider 2006-01-05, 11:21 pm |
| A company that does a lot of neat things with solar lighting (Bus stops,
tower lights, marine markers, etc) can be found here:
http://www.carmanah.com/
They use the GATES (now Enersys) rolled lead AGM cells. And they use a
microchip to manage the power to the load based on available sunlight.
| |
| Fuk U Spamer@fukspamer.com 2006-01-07, 1:21 am |
| I think u can even run these lights on radio frequency waves which are all
arround us all the time., all you need is right tools to collect enough
electric power from RF waves. I guess a crystal and an RF coil probably will
give u enough electrical power to light these new LED bulbs. No need for
battery or solar pannels.
| |
|
| Anthony Matonak wrote:
> Philip F. Cohen wrote:
>
>
>
> First off, it's an advertising sheet and therefore the numbers
> can be highly suspect. I'll believe it when they actually sell
> the product and it's gone through some kind of independent test.
>
> That said, according to their sheet the LED is roughly equivalent
> in efficiency to fluorescents. This means the 3.5W LED would
> produce as much light as a 3.5W fluorescent or 14W incandescent.
> To approximate a 40W incandescent it would require 10W using these,
> if they actually perform to advertised specs.
>
>
>
> Compact fluorescents already are a direct replacement for less
> efficient incandescents in the 40-150W range and they make them
> in 12V, 24V, and 48V DC versions as well. Some of the more popular
> models can be purchased for as little as $2 each which makes them
> fairly affordable.
>
>
>
> Electricity from fuel cells is horrendously expensive, more
> especially since they don't really have any fuel cells in the
> 10W size outside research labs. For that matter, they don't
> really have any fuel cells outside of research labs no matter
> what the size. You might consider pint sized nuclear reactors
> as long as you are limiting yourself to nearly unobtainable
> power sources regardless of cost.
>
> PV is more affordable in the sense that it's only very expensive.
>
> Batteries have come a long way, though you're probably going to
> find lead acid to be the most affordable for stationary use.
>
> Lastly, who wants a 40W garden accent light? The current models
> are several orders of magnitudes less bright.
>
> Anthony
Where can you get fluorescents for $2? I have been looking for some low
cost, low voltage fluorescents.
Does anyone know if low voltage fluorescents are available in AC form?
Most outdoor low voltage transformers are 12V AC.
Oscar
| |
| Anthony Matonak 2006-01-07, 8:21 am |
| Parse wrote:
> Anthony Matonak wrote:
....
>
> Where can you get fluorescents for $2? I have been looking for some low
> cost, low voltage fluorescents.
You can sometimes find them in dollar stores but those models tend to
be low in quality.
http://store.yahoo.com/genuineaccessories/15w60w.html
The above link sells 13W CF for $1 but I don't know what they
charge for shipping.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...9071&lpage=none
This outfit sells a four pack of 13W CF for $8.
An outfit called 'Home Depot' sells similar multi-packs for similar
prices but they don't seem to advertise the fact on the internet.
It's quite likely a local hardware or home improvement store would
carry the same kind of item.
All of these are normal line voltage AC, of course.
Anthony
| |
| nicksanspam@ece.villanova.edu 2006-01-07, 9:21 am |
| Anthony Matonak <anthonym40@nothing.like.comcast.net> wrote:
>An outfit called 'Home Depot' sells similar multi-packs...
.... 6 14 W CFs for $9.97, as of last week.
Nick
| |
| Drums 2006-01-10, 10:21 pm |
| I drove by a large fuel cell from Plug power running a guys home on NG
everday.
This was 5 years ago. It was one of several test sites.
"Anthony Matonak" <anthonym40@nothing.like.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:y_qdnTUBD4_lQiHeRVn-qA@comcast.com...
> Philip F. Cohen wrote:
http://brightsidetech.com/newslette...LED_CL-L100.pdf[color=darkred]
>
> First off, it's an advertising sheet and therefore the numbers
> can be highly suspect. I'll believe it when they actually sell
> the product and it's gone through some kind of independent test.
>
> That said, according to their sheet the LED is roughly equivalent
> in efficiency to fluorescents. This means the 3.5W LED would
> produce as much light as a 3.5W fluorescent or 14W incandescent.
> To approximate a 40W incandescent it would require 10W using these,
> if they actually perform to advertised specs.
>
>
> Compact fluorescents already are a direct replacement for less
> efficient incandescents in the 40-150W range and they make them
> in 12V, 24V, and 48V DC versions as well. Some of the more popular
> models can be purchased for as little as $2 each which makes them
> fairly affordable.
>
>
> Electricity from fuel cells is horrendously expensive, more
> especially since they don't really have any fuel cells in the
> 10W size outside research labs. For that matter, they don't
> really have any fuel cells outside of research labs no matter
> what the size. You might consider pint sized nuclear reactors
> as long as you are limiting yourself to nearly unobtainable
> power sources regardless of cost.
>
> PV is more affordable in the sense that it's only very expensive.
>
> Batteries have come a long way, though you're probably going to
> find lead acid to be the most affordable for stationary use.
>
> Lastly, who wants a 40W garden accent light? The current models
> are several orders of magnitudes less bright.
>
> Anthony
| |
| William P.N. Smith 2006-01-11, 12:21 pm |
| "Drums" <tgiorgi1@REMOVEnycap.rr.com> wrote:
>I drove by a large fuel cell from Plug power running a guys home on NG
>everday.
>This was 5 years ago. It was one of several test sites.
Yeah, they did some testing, but they got stuck in "coming soon" for
the better part of a decade. Had to be some fundamental problem (my
guess is reformer/membrane lifetime/cost issues), as there was
certainly enough demand for what their marketing folks were pushing.
| |
|
| Yep, One of the problems they were working on was size also.
The Fuel cell car that is being tested has a life span of 4 years on the
fuel cell.
They are working on it. They are certainly not there yet.
"William P.N. Smith" <news05@compusmiths.com> wrote in message
news:d87as1d7lfjunvgv2r6mhgmj5k5d8m9ekp@4ax.com...
> "Drums" <tgiorgi1@REMOVEnycap.rr.com> wrote:
>
> Yeah, they did some testing, but they got stuck in "coming soon" for
> the better part of a decade. Had to be some fundamental problem (my
> guess is reformer/membrane lifetime/cost issues), as there was
> certainly enough demand for what their marketing folks were pushing.
| |
| Psiclone 2006-02-19, 6:21 am |
| www.ebay.com i saw some awhile back that wer 60w equivalents for 1.50 a pice
if you buy 50...
i've been offline for 3 years but, i saw somewhere that there were 60w
equivaLENT LED bulbs that used 1.5w but they costed 95$ each.
"Parse" <parse@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:LOudnVoz8pD97SLenZ2dnUVZ_t2dnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Anthony Matonak wrote:
http://brightsidetech.com/newslette...LED_CL-L100.pdf[color=darkred]
> Where can you get fluorescents for $2? I have been looking for some low
> cost, low voltage fluorescents.
>
> Does anyone know if low voltage fluorescents are available in AC form?
> Most outdoor low voltage transformers are 12V AC.
>
> Oscar
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