Shed Lighting Setup

[DatacomGuy]

New to solar, been watching tons of videos and reading tons of threads on here but haven't seen my specific need asked.

I have a small 10x15 shed that I'm about to assembling. It's a resin shed, and its primary use is simply for storage. I'd like to add some exterior light fixtures to the face of the shed, and some interior LED strips on a switch.

Ideally, i'd love to run the exterior lights from dusk to dawn, but unsure how complicated this will make the setup. Not sure what size battery I would need, and if it would charge quickly enough off of solar to completely recharge every day. I am located in Florida, and I do have plenty of direct visible sunlight. I'd like to keep this as low budget as possible since its simply just for lighting and i'm not trying to do anything crazy with it.

Before I size a controller or panel, i'd imagine I need to figure out my load and battery size for the run time I need. Any guidance here? Worse case scenario, if the battery is too large or too expensive, then i'd switch to motion lights outside instead of dusk to dawn.

Any input from the hive?

 

[marionw]

Any good MPPT charge controller that is sized to the the PV array and battery will work.

Going with a 12vdc system works well for LED lights as you can use many of the low voltage led yard lights available at big box stores as well as kitchen under cabinet led lights (most use a 12vdv wall brick).

I installed a similar system in my daughter-in-laws green house using a Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 75V 15 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) and a 55AH AGM battery (you could use a LifePo4 if the controller supports it).
I used a automobile type fuse block for all loads and the loads are powered from the "Load" output of the charge controller which provides "dusk to dawn" and battery protection logic.
I also installed 3 100 watt solar panels connected in series. Just make sure the total panel VOC voltage of your panels does not exceed the controller PV input.
You can also power the loads directly from the battery via an appropriate fuse and a relay that is controlled by the controllers "load" output. This is necessary for larger loads (i.e. pump or fan) so you do not overload the controllers "load" output.

Use enough solar panels to ensure a full recharge each day (including partly cloudy days), sure you will "waste" solar power on bright sunny days but who know, you might find addition use such as a temperature controlled vent fan.

Keep it simple, somewhat affordable and have fun putting the system together. With Bluetooth you can collect performance data which is great if you ever consider a larger system for a house or RV.

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

For exterior dusk-to-dawn lighting, you can find lots of choices on Amazon for a unit that has several led spotlights, a motion-sensor, and solar (the dusk-to-dawn sensor is built-in). If where you put the light isn't south-facing, there are plenty where they come with a solar panel & long cable, so the panel gets mounted in sun, and the spotlights go where you need them.

For interior, it could be as simple as a small LiFePO4 12v???ah battery (you pick the ah), a 12v switch, and 12v led fixture, again multitudes of this stuff on amazon. Also plenty of 12v "distribution panels" (bluesea), to extend the range of wired 12v devices. Bring the battery up to the house for occasional recharge with a lifepo4 battery charger (as in, have two batteries, and swap as needed). Or do as suggested above, and install mppt/panels, etc. But, a bit more wiring to do ...

Another possibility, while talking "swapping" batteries, is some tool battery line-up, where you literally place a light tool in the shed (with on/off switch), and occasionally swap the tool battery that feeds it.

You could come up with an inverter, battery, mppt, & panels, and I'd go that route if you have serious wiring/services to provide in the shed, like plenty of 120v power receptacles, 120v light fixtures, and such.

Hope this helps ...