Can a 12VAC LED be used with 12VDC?

I'm in the process of researching the use of solar/battery to provide power to landscape lights and I've come across a detail that I can't quite wrap my head around. The LED lighting equipment I would like to use is all rated for 12v however, the listings (such as this one) show the bulbs are 12VAC rather than 12VDC as would be provided by a solar panel and/or battery.

This is where my confusion lies. Since there's a distinct difference between AC and DC, is it safe to assume that any LED not specifically rated for 12VDC would fail to work as a solar/battery powered light? Thanks in advance for your guidance. I get the feeling the answer is far less complex than I think.

- Robert

The lights you linked have the following note:

• IMPORTANT *** All VOLT® LED fixtures and retrofit bulbs must be used with magnetic transformers such as our VOLT® transformers (they are not compatible with electronic transformers). They must be used with AC (they are not compatible with DC voltage). Failure to comply with any of these factors will destroy the fixture or lamp and void the warranty.

Click to expand...

These 12VAC LEDS require a special AC powered fixture. So you would need an inverter to power these from DC.

It would be far more efficient to find 12VDC lights so you can avoid the DC -> AC losses of an inverter.

Thank you so much for pointing out this information. I hadn't seen this note which, thankfully, now saves me the time I would have wasted on Volt products.

Back to the drawing board.

Yes,
Did you do DC? And running on solar?

LEDs are ALL DC anyways- or they used to be. (LEDs are by nature one-direction of current; polarity independent LED fixtures have switching circuits in them; I can see how a capacitor and circuitry could create an “AC led”)
At the power supply / driver led fixtures are systems that lend the inefficiency of conversion, and then have circuitry or a diode and resister at the fixture that introduces another small loss. AC delivery just potentially offers benefits over distance, and more fun if wiring hot.

Plus, ever see flickering led yard lights, wall lights, kitchen lights, or ones that cycle on/off? That’s the in-fixture drivers (failure) or temp controls that do that. DC low voltage devices especially low priced devices often cheap out with merely a resistor for voltage compatibility (nothing wrong with that)- and they do not get flickers19.