Anglepoise Lamp - A Solar conversion

[gotwind]

gotwind's first attempt at solar

This small project uses a 12v 5w solar panel to charge a 12 Amp/hour lead acid battery that connects to a converted anglepoise lamp.

The conversion is easily done, just replace the standard 240v bulb with a low energy 12v 11w (60w equivalent) compact fluorescent lamp (CFL).

I hang the panel from my upstairs window and connect it to the battery via a 1 Amp fuse .

Run time of the lamp is approximately half the time the panel is in direct sun light. e.g. 10 hours charging @ 5w = 4.5 hours running time.

The compact fluorescent lamps quality of light is not the best, but it gives plenty of volume, enough to illuminate a small room.

The beauty of this project is the lamp runs at 12v and doesn't require an inverter, along with it's losses in power.

Unfortunately the12v compact fluorescent lamps are quite difficult to find and expensive at the moment £20 ($37) each.

I've read that cold cathode lamps are better? - information welcomed.

A U.K source http://www.unlimited-power.co.uk/low-voltage-lights-12v-dc-CFL.html

[AbyssUnderground]

You can buy a cold cathode tube (2 of them) for around £5 ($10) from www.ebuyer.com. Look under the PC Cases section, then look for the Case Modding, then Lighting Kits. I have a few of these and they run great. They draw 0.5A and are great as desk lights.

As they are pure white and not tinted, they are better on the eyes.

[fungus]

Looks good. Similar to what I had with a 10w solar panel. Where did you get the solar panel?