Solar Powered Security Spotlight
Solar Powered Security Spotlight
Protect your home with a solar-powered motion-detecting security spotlight
solar | shoppingA
security spotlight is typically made up of two components - a motion detecting
PIR sensor and a bright
spotlight. When movement is detected within 20 metres of the PIR sensor, the spotlight is automatically turned on for an adjustable length of time - typically from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. This can be very useful for
illuminating otherwise dark doorways and driveways to make getting into your home easier and safer, and also for
deterring burglars.
Solar Powered Security Spotlights
Most mains-powered spotlights use inefficient
halogen bulbs which draw up to 500 Watts of electricity.
Solar powered systems almost exclusively use
energy efficient LED technology to keep power usage down. This is absolutely essential since a small
PV solar panel can only charge a battery so much during the day, and therefore only a limited amount of stored charge is available to power the light(s) at night.
While we sell all of the necessary components to build your own solar-powered security spotlight system (solar panel, LED spotlights, battery holder, PIR sensor, timer circuit etc - see our
REUK Shop for details and pricing), integrated commercial products are now available which perform
adequately for less than the cost of a (typically more powerful)
self built system in most applications.
Pictured above is the
Solar Mate Secure 1 solar powered PIR motion detector triggered LED spotlight. The solar panel and battery pack provided are identical to those mentioned in our article
Shed and Garage Solar Lighting with reference to the
Solar Mate 0.5. To this system is added a
PIR sensor which has adjustable sensitivity and time (set lights to come on for from 30 seconds to 20 minutes each time motion is detected). The spotlighting unit contains three double-sized
LED bulbs which will illluminate an area up to 5 metres away.
This complete and easy to install system is available from
Ethical Superstore for just
£24.99. Click here find out more or to
buy Solar Mate Secure 1 now.
Pictured above is a
Solar Twin Light with PIR - priced from £20-40 in the UK from
Maplin (To purchase this product or for more information and current pricing click here:
solar PIR spotlight). This fully waterproofed product is supplied with a small
solar panel, four
rechargeable AA batteries, two spotlight units each fitted with nine ultrabright
LED bulbs, and all necessary fixtures and fittings. Motion sensor sensitivity, spotlight brightness (0-10 lux), and the length of time the light stays on (5-40 secs) can all be adjusted as required by the user.
The included batteries are
NiCD which are bad for the environment and do not have a very high storage capacity. However, after a few years of use, those batteries can be disposed of (following standard disposal conditions for items containing cadmium) and replaced with cleaner, more powerful
NiMH batteries.
Pictured below is an alternative (higher quality) system available from
Ethical Superstore. This provides two separate
LED lamps (each with 5 ultra-bright LEDs) which are turned on for
30 seconds when the built in
PIR sensor detects motion. The rechargeable battery pack holds enough charge to light the spotlights
500 times when fully charged, and is charged by a
solar panel supplied with 5 metres of cable.
To purchase this product (or to find out more about it) click here:
Duo Security Light Twin Spotlights. It is currently priced at
£44.99.
Limitations and Benefits of these LED Spotlights
Obviously the amount of light put out by these low voltage
LED spotlights is far less than that of typical mains-powered spotlights, but the solar-powered product has the huge advantage of having very simple installation with no need to worry about finding and paying an electrician, or messy wiring.
Note that will all of these systems it would be possible to replace the supplied
solar panel with a more powerful unit to increase the amount of charge available at night in locations where the spotlights are triggered frequently.
Article Last Modified: 09:26, 31st Mar 2009Comment on this Article
If you have any comments on this article, please email them to
neil@reuk.co.uk.
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