Uhm, led's 2.5 volts, about a 1/4 amp per 10 (10 put out very useful light) and 100,000 hours plus lifespan, cheap to buy in bulk, cat 5 wiring (1 pair of 4 wires) can carry 20 led's or 1/2 amp.
Now add this into the equation, nicd's or nimh's batteries, rated at 1.2 volts per cell and can be recharged even on cloudy days in a short period of time with 4 volt solar cells, ebay cells, 8 of them put out 4 volts and 3 amps.
"D" cell nimh's can be had in 1.2 volt 10 amp ratings, so 2 small batteries can power those led's a long time and may last about 3 years.
4 10 led arrays consume about 1 amp, with just 2 D cells that's 10 hours of light, on an average night you wouldn't deplete the cells capacity.
Do the math on 100,000 hours in relation to your usage...thats alot of burn time you won't get with cfl's.
Building the panels yourself is easy, their small.
- leds 6.00
- batteries 10 - 12.00
solar panel 20.00 (Pricing will vary depending on source)
150' cat 5 10.00 (Carries 4 lights)
In 100,000 hours of light you only need to replace the batteries when they fail.
Sounds like a bargain to me!
In the setup I have now, I get the battery banks topped up even on cloudy days.
12v cfl's would require much more cost, beefier wiring, solar, batteries, etc.