Expat Farming Solar Floodlights Experiences

Among my free time the wife and I farm a mountainside 1/2 hectare which we illuminate various parts with electric lights. I have been reading up on 200-300 watt solar lights that turn on and off automatically and use no electricity.

Is anyone using these kinds of solar lights here and what have been your experiences?

shakey

 

I bought two cheapos from Shoppee at just over P1000, both 100watt but the company also supplied up to 300W, both of these have Lithium Iron Phosphate battery's, sensors when someone passes they go to full illumination also a remote control to alter the many functions they have, after 2 weeks the sensor failed on one of them but the light still works, the other one is still OK and now 6 months old, my neighbour bought a very similar one, but his cost him P2800, slightly different but made up exactly the same in the build, they come with a short pole 18inch and Rawbolts to fix to a wall, but at that price I do not expect a long service life from them? if I had to replace them every couple of years I would not be unduly concerned.

 

Wow. 200 - 300 watt LED strikes me as a lot of light, but it makes sense. I see the street lights on Lazada range from 80 to 500 watt.

The small cheap ones will probably not meet your needs.

There are a lot of reviews on Lazada.

Street Lamp Size 80w - 500w, (1,900 - 4,460 PHP)
https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/...wered-for-outdoor-i334504462-s812456262.html?

Two 80 watt spaced apart might be better than one 500 watt.

Small cheap - 189 PHP - I doubt this is any good. It may have use as a motion sensing security light because the light is not on much of the time.
https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/...tdoor-courtyard-i1836915459-s7817514259.html?

 

I ordered a couple to see how they will work out, may need another 3 or 4. Will move them around to see the light range. in preparation we have removed low hanging dwarf coconut limbs bananas and recurring limbs sprouting from our living fence posts so i have unimpeded vision from my chair on the porch which I now have through the day. Workers seem to be more productive if someone is watching.

shakey

 

When buying/ordering led lights it would be smart to read up on lumen vs watt. Wattage doesn't make much sense for led lights, especially not if it's pure marketing when mentioned, rather than a useful number. Wattage is an indicator for electricity use (and I guarantee there are no solar/battery fed led lights that use anywhere near 100W). Much better to get informed about actual lumen (amount of light) produced and on the size/type of battery, capacity of battery and of the solar panel than to rely on phony comparisons with oldfashioned bulbs.
I'm by no means an expert, but I believe this is solid advice.

 

Since this thread mentioned "Solar Floodlights Experiences" I now have hands on rather than dated common knowledge.

What interested me was the ability to automatically turn off and on the farm lights even if a person wasn't there to flip the switch and provide light for workers to work after dark in the fields. I now have 5 30W LED lights that really light the areas near the outdoor lights powerline but need light away from the powerline unblocked by overlooking tree branches.

The solar light itself contains a number of light emitting LEDs. The 300W light has 912 of these and a built in battery to power the light 10 to 12 hours in either orange or white light. The orange cast is like that seen in sodium vapor street lights. The light right out of the box is fully charged from the factory and will work without the solar panel wire connected. The size of the solar panel is dependent on the rated wattage of the light it is connected to. The firmware is controlled by a hand held remote control.

The area of rectangular coverage is determined by high you mount the light and by any sight line blockages. The solar panel can be mounted anywhere where it will receive sunlight most of the day. In the presence 0f other lights will allow it to charge also even at night.

My hands on evaluation is that it does what I needed them for but the mounting brackets where they attach to the light and solar panel slip when tightened and may require local engineering.

shakey

 

Did you also try any of the lower wattage ones? 300 watt sounds like a lot to have in one spot.

Light intensity drops exponentially the further away you get from the source (distance).

So having more little ones spread about where they are closer to what they are illuminating. is better than having one bright one.