12v LIGHTING PROJECT |
With all the " Just stop oil" nonselse going on I decided I was going to do something to save the Planet.When you think of it,s in everyones interest to reduce energy consumption. You can do this by making best use of natural energy.The wind and the sun are free to everyone. Off course there are national projects. However are these managed efficiently ?.We see wind turbines idle when conditions are not right and off course storage is a problem. This project has been in my mind for some time I just have not had the means of measuring and controlling the components. This project is only to provide lighting which can be furnished by a modest set up. The end goal will be to determin the best stategy for control and it,s essential along the way to be able to store and analyse results in order to develop this. A key tool in this quest has been the development of a secure micro-controller with data logging storage facilities. This can report measurements to the PC VEE based software for further analysis. Having nearly completed the micro-controller some thought has been given to the desgn of 12v LED lights which turn on with PIR sensors for approx 15 mins with daylight sensors to minimise on times. Two models have been constructed. A low power one, probably for corridors/passages etc and a more powerful one for bigger spaces. The electronics has the virtue of being able to be triggered again whilst the light is on thus extending the illumination period for as long as someone is present. See video See PDF The first lamp takes 500mA and is not as bright as the second lamp. The second lamp takes 700mA and has no resistors in the LED chain which makes it more efficient. It probably uses a constant current IC and a series parallel configuration.
|