Pre-built solar homes could make renewable energy almost 50% cheaper

Re:Pre-built solar homes could make renewable energy almost ... by holoduke on Sunday September 29, 2019 @07:39PM (#21110381)

I am actually thinking of something similar. Instead of 12v DC I probably would go for 48v or maybe even higher. With 12v your cables soon start to become too thick to be practical if you want to run serious things like garage doors / window shades etc.

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Re:Pre-built solar homes could make renewable energy almost ... by 205guy on Sunday September 29, 2019 @10:44PM (#21111351)

My friend said he picked 12V because that's what the easily-available LED bulbs are rated at, and he just wanted a simple lights-only system.

I guess you could pick whatever voltage you want for your loads and cable runs, but you need to have the appliances you want available (or easily DIY) in that voltage. It would probably be possible to convert down the voltage once, but any more than that and you're introducing loss again.

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Re:Pre-built solar homes could make renewable energy almost ... by Scoundreller on Monday September 30, 2019 @01:01AM (#21111908)

120VAC LED lamps will just rectify that 120V to DC and then use a power supply to drop it to around 30V.

In other words, a 120VAC LED should work just fine on 48VDC with the same output.

It’s also explains why they don’t dim.

(Obviously avoid the dimmable ones in this application!)

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Re:Pre-built solar homes could make renewable energy almost ... by Maakuth on Monday September 30, 2019 @12:49AM (#21111855)

On the other hand, you could connect 12V lights in series to get them the desired voltage.

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Re:Pre-built solar homes could make renewable energy almost ... by Scoundreller on Monday September 30, 2019 @01:03AM (#21111916)

That’s not always a good idea.

It is putting more current through each light.

And particularly problematic if each bulb has parallel LEDs and they start burning out: then more and more current is put through the remaining LEDs.

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